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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29278740">Episode III - The Revenge of DarkClan</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CirelondielWildstar/pseuds/CirelondielWildstar'>CirelondielWildstar</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Star Warriors Saga [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Warriors - Erin Hunter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>All Characters Are Cats, Alternate Universe, Crossovers &amp; Fandom Fusions, Minor CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano, battles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:26:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>75,077</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29278740</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CirelondielWildstar/pseuds/CirelondielWildstar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>*This is a retelling of the popular "Star Wars" franchise as "Warrior Cats"-style stories</p><p>War!  The cats of the Tribe of Gathering are crumbling under attacks by the ruthless DarkClan warrior, Darkbird.  There are heroes on both sides.  Evil is everywhere.</p><p>In a stunning move, the fiendish deputy of the Tribe of Shadows, Greyfuzz, has swept into the Gathering Place and kidnapped Foxstar, leader of the Tribe of Gathering.</p><p>As the enemy attempts to flee the besieged Gathering Place with their valuable hostage, two LightClan cats lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive Foxstar....</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>C-3PO &amp; Anakin Skywalker, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, R2-D2 &amp; Anakin Skywalker, R2-D2/R2-KT</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Star Warriors Saga [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1700470</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Allegiance List</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>And we're back!  This list, as you might imagine, took forever to finish, and it's really long as a result.  (I'm so sorry in advance)  The first actual chapter will be posted on Wednesday, so I'll see you then!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">Allegiances</span>
</p><p>DARKCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                         <strong>Darkshadow</strong> – shadowy, unknown tom <em>[Darth Sidious – Sith Lord]</em></p><p>                                         <span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Darkbird</strong> – (see entry below) <em>[Darth Tyranus – Sith Lord]</em></p><p> </p><p>LIGHTCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                         <strong>Lightstar</strong> – small grey tabby tom with green eyes <em>[Yoda – Jedi Master]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Deputy</span>                        <strong>Violetlight</strong> – dark brown tom with hazel eyes <em>[Mace Windu – Jedi Master]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Medicine Cats</span>             <strong>Glowlight</strong> – small, long-furred yellow and white she-cat with blue eyes <em>[Jocasta Nu – Jedi Master]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Sappool</strong> – grey tom with green eyes and white right foreleg <em>[SP-4 – Jedi Analysis Droid]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Council Cats</span>               <strong>Deeplight</strong> – dark tortoiseshell she-cat with brown eyes <em>[Depa Billaba – Jedi Master]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Dunepaw</strong> – brown tabby tom with blue eyes <em>[Caleb Dume – Jedi Padawan]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Brownlight</strong> – brown tabby tom with hazel eyes <em>[Agen Kolar – Jedi Master]</em></p><p>                                   <strong>Palelight</strong> – tall white tom with green eyes <em>[Ki-Adi-Mundi – Jedi Master]</em></p><p>                                   <strong>Coallight</strong> – dark grey tabby tom with copper eyes and white chest <em>[Coleman Kcaj – Jedi Master]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Raccoonlight</strong> – brown and white tom with hazel eyes <em>[Plo Koon – Jedi Master]</em></p><p>                                   <strong>Tinlight</strong> – grey tom with green eyes <em>[Saesee Tiin – Jedi Master]</em></p><p>                                   <strong>Streamlight</strong> – blue and white tom with dark brown eyes <em>[Kit Fisto – Jedi Master]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Maplelight</strong> – brown and white tabby she-cat with blue eyes <em>[Shaak Ti – Jedi Master]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Lizardpaw</strong> – tan tom with green eyes and white forepaws <em>[Chian – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p>                                   <strong>Alderlight – </strong>brown tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes <em>[Stass Allie – Jedi Master]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Sunlight</strong> – light brown tom with blue eyes and white left forepaw <em>[Obi-Wan Kenobi – Jedi Master]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Sages</span>                          <strong>Serpentlight</strong> – silver-grey she-cat with green eyes <em>[Luminara Unduli – Jedi Master]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Hoppaw</strong> – grey tom with blue eyes and white tail-tip <em>[Jempa – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p>                                   <strong>Sliplight</strong> – white tom with brown eyes <em>[Eno Cordova – Jedi Master]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Tinypaw</strong> – ginger and white tom with one blue eye and one grey eye <em>[BD-1 – Jedi Droid]</em></p><p>                                   <strong>Ryelight</strong> – brown tabby tom with hazel eyes <em>[Ekim Ryelli – Jedi Master]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Ashpaw</strong> – red and white tabby she-cat with blue eyes and large ears <em>[Ashla – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Rocklight</strong> – black tom with dark brown eyes <em>[Roth-Del Masona – Jedi Master]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Ferretpaw</strong> – dark ginger tom with brown eyes and long whiskers <em>[Ferren Barr – Jedi Padawan]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Talonlight</strong> – grey tom with blue eyes <em>[Taron Malicos – Jedi Master]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Stonelight</strong> – tan and white tom with grey eyes <em>[Jurokk – Jedi Gate Keeper]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Bluelight</strong> – blue-grey she-cat with amber eyes <em>[Aayla Secura – Jedi Knight]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Gempaw</strong> – black, tan, and white she-cat with brown eyes <em>[Mari Amithest – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Steadylight</strong> – grey tabby tom with green eyes and white paws <em>[Jaro Topal – Jedi Knight]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Stingpaw</strong> – light ginger tom with green eyes and white tail-tip <em>[Cal Kestis – Jedi Padawan]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Warriors</span>                      <strong>Yellowfoot</strong> – yellow tabby tom with green eyes and white paws and chest-fur <em>[Pablo-Jill – Jedi Knight]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Mantisheart</strong> – dark brown tabby she-cat with brown eyes <em>[Cere Junda – Jedi Knight]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Trillpaw</strong> – black she-cat with green eyes <em>[Trilla Suduri – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Skystalker</strong> – light brown tom with blue eyes, white paws, and a scar across his blind right eye <em>[Anakin Skywalker – Jedi Knight]</em></p><p>                                   <strong>Gnatleaf</strong> – grey she-cat with hazel eyes <em>[Naat Reath – Jedi Knight]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Sandpaw</strong> – cream tom with brown eyes <em>[Saylind Donels – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Quietstep</strong> – pale brown tabby tom with dark green eyes <em>[Quinlan Vos – Jedi Knight]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Lionpaw</strong> – light brown tom with hazel eyes and white paws and belly <em>[Liam – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Swanclaw</strong> – black and white she-cat with brown eyes <em>[Bultar Swan – Jedi Knight]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice,</span> <strong>Flickerpaw</strong> – white she-cat with dark brown eyes and light brown ears and tail <em>[Lexa Tcheil – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Roansight</strong> – brown and white tabby tom with blue eyes <em>[Roan Shryne – Jedi Knight]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Chirppaw</strong> – white tom with amber eyes and brown spots on his hindquarters <em>[Shryne’s Second Apprentice]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Birdslash</strong> – light grey tom with brown eyes <em>[Bairdon Jace – Jedi Knight]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Jaypaw</strong> – brown and white tom with brown eyes <em>[J. K. Burtola – Jedi Padawan]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Younglings</span>                  <strong>Pricklekit</strong> – dark brown tabby tom with green eyes and a kinked tail <em>[Petro – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Fishkit</strong> – blue tabby she-cat with dark brown eyes <em>[Ganodi – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Tendrilkit</strong> – brown she-cat with blue eyes and pale speckles behind her ears <em>[Katooni – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Longkit</strong> – tan tom with grey eyes and long whiskers <em>[Byph – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Zipkit</strong> – grey tom with brown eyes and dark speckles on his muzzle <em>[Zatt – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Dogkit</strong> – large long-furred brown tom with brown eyes <em>[Gungi – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Soaringkit</strong> – pale yellow tom with blue eyes and white tail-tip <em>[Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Beankit</strong> – brown and white she-cat with brown eyes <em>[Bene - Jedi]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Whitekit</strong> – golden tabby tom with blue eyes <em>[Whie Malreaux - Jedi]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Tumblekit</strong> – white tom with hazel eyes <em>[Zett Jukassa - Jedi]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Elmkit</strong> – tan tabby tom with amber eyes and white paws <em>[O-Mer – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Flipkit</strong> – blue-grey tom with green eyes and long whiskers <em>[Jinx – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Frogkit</strong> – small blue-grey tom with bright green eyes and large ears <em>[Grogu – Jedi Youngling]</em></p><p>
  
</p><p>TRIBE OF GATHERING</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                         <strong>Foxstar</strong> – ginger tom with white paws and blue eyes <em>[Sheev Palpatine – Supreme Chancellor]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Deputy</span>                        <strong>Loudear</strong> – blue tabby tom with brown eyes and large ears <em>[Mas Amedda – Senate Vice Chair]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Medicine Cat</span>               <strong>Slyfoot</strong> – black and white tom with grey eyes <em>[Sly Moore – Aide]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Mudpaw</strong> – dark grey tabby tom with hazel eyes <em>[2-1B – Medical Droid]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Den-Guards</span>                <strong>Duckfeather</strong> – yellow tabby tom with green eyes and white back paws <em>[Dar Wac – Aide]</em></p><p>                                   <strong>Applefrost</strong> – grey tom with dark brown eyes <em>[AP-5 – Republic Protocol Droid]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Longleg</strong> – tall black tom with grey eyes and white tail-tip <em>[K-2SO – KX Security Droid]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Galefur</strong> – brown tom with brown eyes <em>[Galen Erso - Scientist]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Kinkheart</strong> – light brown tabby tom with blue eyes and white paws <em>[Orson Krennic – Weapons Researcher]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Tarpelt</strong> – dark ginger tom with grey-blue eyes and long whiskers <em>[Wilhuff Tarkin – Republic Admiral]</em></p><p>                                        <span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Bendpaw</strong> – ginger tabby tom with blue eyes <em>[Brendol Hux – Republic Officer]</em></p><p>
  
</p><p><span class="u">Rogue Warriors</span>            <strong>Applefur</strong> – white tom with grey eyes <em>[Appo – Clone Sergeant]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Barkclaw</strong> – grey and white tom with hazel eyes <em>[Bacara – Clone Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Longtooth</strong> – blue-grey tom with grey eyes and white paws <em>[Lorth Needa – Republic Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Codslash</strong> – white tom with green eyes <em>[Cody – Clone Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Gripfang</strong> – grey tom with hazel eyes <em>[Gree – Clone Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Jaggedstripe</strong> – light grey tabby tom with green eyes <em>[Jag – Clone Captain]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Sandcrouch</strong> – silver-grey tom with brown eyes <em>[Stance – Clone Trooper]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Halftail</strong> – white tom with blue eyes and half a tail <em>[Odd Ball – Clone Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Spiretail</strong> – grey tabby tom with hazel eyes and white paws <em>[Thire – Clone Lieutenant]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Raggedheart</strong> – blue-grey tom with brown eyes and white chest-fur <em>[Rex – Clone Captain]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Fivestripe</strong> – blue-grey she-cat with hazel eyes <em>[Fives – Clone Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Voleface</strong> – blue-grey tabby tom with amber eyes <em>[Vaughn – Clone Trooper]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Swiftstrike</strong> – pale tan and white tom with dark brown eyes <em>[Blitz – Clone ARC Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Coltbreeze</strong> – white tom with dark brown eyes <em>[Colt – Clone ARC Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Rattleslash</strong> – pale tan she-cat with brown eyes and white paws <em>[Unidentified Clone ARC Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Havocsnarl</strong> – silver tom with hazel eyes <em>[Havoc – Clone ARC Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Starlingleap</strong> – silver-grey tom with grey eyes <em>[Sterling – Clone Trooper]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Strikejaw</strong> – light tan tom with brown eyes <em>[Styles – Clone Captain]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Soottail</strong> – dark grey tabby tom with dark brown eyes and white forepaws <em>[Soot – Clone Sergeant]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Bigjaw</strong> – tall grey tabby tom with hazel eyes <em>[Big-Mouth – Clone Corporal]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Greyface</strong> – silver-grey tabby tom with hazel eyes <em>[Gregor – Clone Captain]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Wolffur</strong> – white tom with brown eyes and ripped right ear <em>[Wolffe – Clone Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Greyfoot</strong> – silver tabby tom with blue eyes <em>[Grey – Clone Commander]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Jetslip</strong> – tan tom with green eyes and white paws <em>[Jesse – Clone Trooper]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Tanglejaw</strong> – grey tom with green eyes <em>[Trap – Clone Lieutenant]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Pulsepad</strong> – dark grey tabby tom with hazel eyes <em>[Pulsar – Clone Trooper]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Tigersight</strong> – pale tan tom with light blue eyes <em>[Edge – Clone Trooper]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Oxclaw</strong> – tan and white tom with grey eyes <em>[Ox – Clone Trooper]</em></p><p><strong>                                   Slashface</strong> – blue-grey tom with hazel eyes and silver whiskers <em>[Scythe – Clone Trooper]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Queens</span>                       <strong>Gooseheart</strong> – cream she-cat with grey eyes (mother of Smokekit) <em>[Uv Gizen – Aide]</em></p><p>                                  <strong>Crystalsight</strong> – dark ginger and white she-cat with green eyes (mother of Dawnkit) <em>[Lyra Erso – Wife of Galen]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Kits</span>                            <strong>Smokekit</strong> – cream tom with green eyes <em>[Snoke – First Order Leader]</em></p><p>                                  <strong>Dawnkit</strong> – newborn brown she-cat <em>[Jyn Erso – Daughter of Galen and Lyra]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Member Groups</span>         <strong>ForestClan</strong> <em>[Naboo]</em></p><p><strong>                                 MountainClan</strong> <em>[Alderaan]</em></p><p><strong>                                 HillClan</strong> <em>[Chandrilla]</em></p><p><strong>                                 CanyonClan</strong> <em>[Malastare]</em></p><p><strong>                                 CycloneClan</strong> <em>[Glee Anselm]</em></p><p><strong>                                 DryClan</strong> <em>[Raioballo Sector]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Tribe of Deep Waters</strong> <em>[Gungans]</em></p><p><strong>                                 LakeClan</strong> <em>[Ryloth]</em></p><p><strong>                                 FreezeClan</strong> <em>[Pantora]</em></p><p><strong>                                 SeaClan</strong> <em>[Kuat]</em></p><p><strong>                                 ShiverClan</strong> <em>[Sern Sector]</em></p><p><strong>                                 PlateauClan</strong> <em>[Kanz Sector]</em></p><p><strong>                                 MazeClan</strong> <em>[Corellia]</em></p><p><strong>                                 JungleClan</strong> <em>[Ottega Sector]</em></p><p><strong>                                 GlimmerClan</strong> <em>[Humbarine Sector]</em></p><p><strong>                                 StreamClan</strong> <em>[Kedorzha]</em></p><p><strong>                                 FenClan</strong> <em>[Feenix]</em></p><p><strong>                                 CoralClan</strong> <em>[Sembla]</em></p><p><strong>                                 SandClan</strong> <em>[Senex]</em></p><p><strong>                                 TreeClan</strong> <em>[Herdessa]</em></p><p><strong>                                 IceClan</strong> <em> [Tynna]</em></p><p><strong>                                 LoamClan</strong> <em>[Uyter]</em></p><p><strong>                                 LeafClan</strong> <em>[Brodo Asogi]</em></p><p><strong>                                 MarshClan</strong> <em>[Kestos Minor]</em></p><p> </p><p>TRIBE OF SHADOWS</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                       <strong>Darkbird</strong> – dark grey tabby tom with dark brown eyes <em>[Count Dooku – Former Jedi]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Deputy</span>                      <strong>Greyfuzz</strong> – tan tabby tom with grey eyes and ruffed fur around the shoulders <em>[General Grievous – Separatist Commander]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Rogue Warriors</span>          <strong>Slashfang</strong> – grey tabby tom with green eyes <em>[Lushros Dofine – Separatist Captain]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Itchflight</strong> – black and white she-cat with amber eyes <em>[IG-101 – Bodyguard of Grievous]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Scratchflip</strong> – grey and white she-cat with amber eyes <em>[IG-102 – Bodyguard of Grievous]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Tallant</strong> – black tabby tom with brown eyes <em>[Aito Laff – Separatist Logistics]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Nutpool</strong> – brown tom with grey eyes <em>[Po Nodo – Separatist Council Member]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Stickear</strong> – brown tabby tom with brown eyes and white forepaws <em>[Tikkes – Separatist Leader]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Member Groups</span>        <strong>FieldClan</strong> <em>[Trade Federation]</em></p><p><strong>                                 MoorClan</strong> <em>[Intergalactic Banking Clan]</em></p><p><strong>                                 CliffClan</strong> <em>[Geonosis]</em></p><p><strong>                                 ClayClan</strong> <em>[Commerce Guild]</em></p><p><strong>                                 SwampClan</strong> <em>[Corporate Alliance]</em></p><p><strong>                                 MesaClan</strong> <em>[Sy Myrth]</em></p><p><strong>                                 WaveClan</strong> <em>[Ando]</em></p><p><strong>                                 RiverClan</strong> <em>[Mon Calamari]</em></p><p> </p><p>FIELDCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                       <strong>Newtstar</strong> – grey and white tabby tom with amber eyes <em>[Nute Gunray – Trade Federation Viceroy]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Deputy</span>                      <strong>Hawkfur</strong> – brown tabby tom with amber eyes and ripped right ear <em>[Rune Haako – Trade Federation Second]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Medicine Cat</span>             <strong>Finclaw</strong> – black tom with green eyes and white paws and tail-tip <em>[Daultay Dofine – Trade Federation Captain]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Divepad</strong> – dark grey tabby tom with green eyes and white right hind-paw <em>[Lott Dod – Trade Federation Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Warriors</span>                    <strong>Loudclaw</strong> – silver-grey she-cat with grey eyes <em>[Tey How – Trade Federation Officer]</em></p><p> </p><p>FORESTCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                       <strong>Forestspeaker</strong> – yellow tabby she-cat with green eyes and white paws and chest <em>[Apailana – Queen of Naboo]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Medicine Cat</span>             <strong>Bubblenose</strong> – grey tabby tom with amber eyes <em>[Sio Bibble – Governor of Naboo]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Mediators</span>                  <strong>Berryheart</strong> – white she-cat with warm brown eyes <em>[Padme Naberrie Amidala – Senator of Naboo]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Goldpelt</strong> – yellow tom with amber eyes <em>[C-3PO – Skywalker Protocol Droid]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Warriors</span>                    <strong>Mousemist</strong> – silver she-cat with brown eyes and white paws <em>[Dorme – Handmaiden of Padme]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Tallear</strong> – grey and white she-cat with grey eyes <em>[Eirtae – Handmaiden of Padme]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Dimfur</strong> – black and white she-cat with green eyes <em>[Dinee Ellberger – Naboo Pilot]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Breezefoot</strong> – white long-furred she-cat with green eyes <em>[Elle – Handmaiden of Padme]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Owlwing</strong> – light brown tabby tom with hazel eyes and white paws <em>[Ric Olie – Naboo Pilot]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Brownmoss</strong> – dark brown tom with brown eyes <em>[Quarsh Panaka – Naboo Guard Captain]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Jayeye</strong> – black tom with brown eyes and white forepaws and scars over his left eye <em>[Gregar Typho – Naboo Guard]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Silverfoot</strong> – silver she-cat with blue eyes <em>[Rabe – Handmaiden of Padme]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Brightbreeze</strong> – white she-cat with brown eyes <em>[Sabe – Handmaiden of Padme]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Coppertail</strong> – light grey she-cat with amber eyes <em>[Sache – Handmaiden of Padme]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Slipflight</strong> – ginger and white tabby tom with grey eyes <em>[Gavyn Sykes – Naboo Lieutenant]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Jewelstep</strong> – white she-cat with green eyes <em>[Jobal Naberrie – Mother of Padme]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Tumblefrost</strong> – grey tom with blue eyes <em>[Ruwee Naberrie – Father of Padme]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Redspot</strong> – ginger tabby she-cat with blue eyes <em>[R4-P17 – Droid of Obi-Wan]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Wrenfoot</strong> – brown tabby tom with brown eyes <em>[Darred Janren Naberrie – Husband of Sola]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Flowerfoot</strong> – silver tabby she-cat with green eyes <em>[Jamillia – Resident of Naboo]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Bronzefur</strong> – golden tabby she-cat with hazel eyes <em>[R4-G9 – Droid of Obi-Wan]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Rosefur</strong> – light ginger tabby she-cat with blue eyes and white chest            <em>[R2-KT – Republic Astromech Droid]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Goldenfoot</strong> – yellow and white tom with amber eyes <em>[G8-R3 – Naboo Astromech Droid]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Hopspot</strong> – ginger tom with amber eyes and white chest-fur <em>[C1-10P “Chopper” – Astromech Droid]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Redstripe</strong> – red tabby tom with amber eyes <em>[R2-R9 – Naboo Astromech Droid]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Waspcloud</strong> – blue she-cat with grey eyes with white paws <em>[R2-B1 – Naboo Astromech Droid]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Dullflip</strong> – dark grey tom with brown eyes <em>[Dolphe – Naboo Corporal]</em></p><p><span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Russetpaw</strong> – brown she-cat with green eyes <em>[Ryoo Naberrie – Niece of Padme]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Sunbranch</strong> – silver-grey she-cat with green eyes <em>[Sola Naberrie – Sister of Padme]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Bluestripe</strong> – blue and white tabby tom with amber eyes <em>[R2-D2 – Naboo Astromech Droid]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Robinleap – </strong>red and white she-cat with grey eyes <em>[R2-D1 – Naboo Astromech Droid]</em></p><p><span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Poolpaw</strong> – blue tabby she-cat with green eyes <em>[Pooja Naberrie – Niece of Padme]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Elders</span>                        <strong>Nipdeer</strong> – light brown she-cat with green eyes and white right forepaw <em>[Nandi – Lake Resort Waitress]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Tacklestep</strong> – grey and white she-cat with grey eyes <em>[Teckla – Lake Resort Waitress]</em></p><p> </p><p>TRIBE OF DEEP WATERS</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                       <strong>Mud Where Toads Gather</strong> – large brown tabby tom with brown eyes and white throat and paws <em>[Boss Rugor Nass – Gungan Leader]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                    <strong>Frog That Leaps From Stone</strong> – ginger tabby tom with large green eyes <em>[Jar Jar Binks – Gungan]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Warriors</span>                     <strong>Black Tar From Pits</strong> – light brown and white tom with blue eyes <em>[Roos Tarpais – Gungan Captain]</em></p><p> </p><p>BLOODCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                       <strong>Satinstar</strong> – yellow and white she-cat with blue eyes <em>[Satine Kryze – Mandalorian Duchess]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Deputy</span>                      <strong>Owlclaw</strong> – blue, ginger, and white she-cat with green eyes <em>[Bo-Katan Kryze – Mandalorian Warrior]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Warriors</span>                    <strong>Wolffoot</strong> – brown tabby tom with hazel eyes <em>[Axe Woves – Nite Owl]</em></p><p><span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Corkpaw</strong> – golden tabby tom with blue eyes and white paws <em>[Korkie Kryze – Mandalorian Cadet]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Reedclaw</strong> – black and white she-cat with green eyes <em>[Koska Reeves – Nite Owl]</em></p><p><span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Antpaw</strong> – tan and white tom with dark blue eyes <em>[Amis – Mandalorian Cadet]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Hawkpelt</strong> – white tom with dark brown eyes <em>[Hark – Mandalorian Captain]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Rookslash</strong> – brown and white she-cat with blue eyes <em>[Rook Kast – Mandalorian Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Finroar</strong> – ginger tabby tom with blue eyes <em>[Fenn Rau – Mandalorian Warrior]</em></p><p><span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Sunpaw</strong> – light brown she-cat with green eyes <em>[Soniee – Mandalorian Cadet]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Tigerstripe</strong> – yellow tabby tom with light blue eyes <em>[Tiber Saxon – Mandalorian Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Growlsnap</strong> – grey tabby tom with light blue eyes <em>[Gar Saxon – Mandalorian Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Wrentalon</strong> – dark brown tom with brown eyes <em>[Alrich Wren – Mandalorian Artist]</em></p><p><span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Larkpaw</strong> – yellow she-cat with blue eyes <em>[Lagos – Mandalorian Cadet]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Kestreleye</strong> – dark brown tabby with hazel eyes <em>[Ketsu Onyo – Mandalorian Warrior]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Queens</span>                     <strong>Bearheart</strong> – dark tortoiseshell she-cat with brown eyes and white paws and face (mother of Tremblekit and Sablekit) <em>[Ursa Wren – Mandalorian Warrior]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Kits</span>                           <strong>Tremblekit</strong> – brown tom <em>[Tristan Wren - Mandalorian]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Sablekit</strong> – tortoiseshell she-cat <em>[Sabine Wren - Mandalorian]</em></p><p> </p><p>TRIBE OF WINDY TREES</p><p><span class="u">Lead-Cat</span>                   <strong>Growls Louder Than Bear</strong> – large long-furred brown tom with grey eyes and white face <em>[Grakchawwaa – King of Kashyyyk]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Next-Lead</span>                 <strong>Grows Tall As Tree</strong> – large long-furred black tom with green eyes and white paws and tail-tip <em>[Tarfful – Wookie Chieftain]</em></p><p><span class="u">To-Be</span>, <strong>Chews Bark On Tree</strong> – large long-furred brown tabby tom with blue eyes <em>[Chewbacca – Wookie Warrior]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Hunters</span>                     <strong>Howls Like Tracking Wolf</strong> – large long-furred black tabby tom with brown eyes <em>[Wullffwarro – Wookie Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Chomps Down On Bone</strong> – large long-furred dark brown tabby tom with brown eyes <em>[Choyyssyk – Wookie Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Hangs Over Long Branches</strong> – large long-furred light ginger tabby she-cat with blue eyes <em>[Chewbacca’s mother]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Hops Over Mossy Stone</strong> – large long-furred dark grey tom with hazel eyes and white paws <em>[Harrgun – Wookie Warrior]</em></p><p><span class="u">To-Be</span>, <strong>Races Along Grassy Hills</strong> – large long-furred grey tabby tom with green eyes and white left foreleg <em>[Greybok – Wookie Diplomat]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Crawls Over Twisted Roots</strong> – large long-furred ginger tabby she-cat with amber eyes <em>[Kirratha – Wookie Warrior]</em></p><p><span class="u">To-Be</span>, <strong>Hurls Rocks From Cliff</strong> – large long-furred blue-grey tabby tom with brown eyes <em>[Hrrgn – Wookie Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Rushes Over Tiny Pebbles</strong> – large long-furred light brown she-cat with blue eyes and white chest-fur <em>[Roshyk – Wookie Warrior]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Dries Beneath Ancient Sun</strong> – large long-furred dark brown tom with blue eyes <em>[Dryanta – Cousin of Chewbacca]</em></p><p><span class="u">To-Be</span>, <strong>Jumps Over Misty Stream</strong> – large long-furred ginger she-cat with brown eyes <em>[Jowdrrl – Cousin of Chewbacca]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Mars Pawprints In Mud</strong> – large long-furred dark brown tabby tom with green eyes <em>[Mahraccor – Wookie Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Shoves Dust Over Roots</strong> – large long-furred brown and white tom with brown eyes <em>[Shoran - Wookie]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Roars Over Rushing Wind</strong> – large long-furred light brown tom with grey eyes <em>[Alrrark – Wookie Warrior]</em></p><p><span class="u">To-Be</span>, <strong>Falls Down Like Antler</strong> – large long-furred reddish-brown tom with brown eyes <em>[Vargi – Brother of Mallatobuck]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Curls Like Old Leaves</strong> – large long-furred brown and white she-cat with dark blue eyes <em>[Lohgarra – Wookie Pilot]</em></p><p><span class="u">To-Be</span>, <strong>Cries Wildly Under Stars</strong> – large long-furred dark ginger she-cat with blue eyes <em>[Kallabow – Sister of Chewbacca]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Grazes Claws Along Log</strong> – large long-furred ginger tom with green eyes and ripped right ear <em>[Ghraggka – Wookie Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Cracks Nuts With Teeth</strong> – large long-furred silver-grey she-cat with green eyes and white left forepaw <em>[Cracktooth – Wookie]</em></p><p><span class="u">To-Be</span>, <strong>Sings Brightly From Thicket</strong> – large long-furred golden-brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes <em>[Mallatobuck – Wife of Chewbacca]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Climbs To High Branch</strong> – large long-furred dark brown tom with blue eyes <em>[Attichichuk – Father of Chewbacca]</em></p><p> </p><p>STONECLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                       <strong>Meadowstar</strong> – tall grey tabby tom with amber eyes <em>[Tion Medon – Utapau Port Administrator]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Deputy</span>                      <strong>Brightfur</strong> – light grey tom with dark brown eyes <em>[Lampay Fay – Medon’s Aide]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Medicine Cat</span>             <strong>Bloomtear</strong> – grey tabby tom with dark blue eyes and white paws <em>[Torul Blom – Utapau Politician]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Warriors</span>                    <strong>Singeflip</strong> – white tom with amber eyes <em>[Zyn Javeb – Pau’an Committee Member]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Jumptail</strong> – white she-cat with dark green eyes <em>[Jen June – Utapau Police Inspector]</em></p><p> </p><p>DESERTCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                       <strong>Jab</strong> – long-furred brown and white tom with amber eyes <em>[Jabba the Hutt – Hutt Crime Boss]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Deputy</span>                      <strong>Lucky</strong> – tan tom with green eyes and patched fur <em>[Bib Fortuna – Jabba Majordomo]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Warriors</span>                    <strong>Boar</strong> – long-furred grey tom with dark brown eyes <em>[Borvo the Hutt – Hutt Smuggler]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Growl</strong> – long-furred brown she-cat with amber eyes <em>[Gardulla the Hutt – Hutt Crime Lady]</em></p><p> </p><p>LAKECLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Frosttail</strong> – light grey tabby tom with green eyes and white tail-tip <em>[Orn Free Taa – Ryloth Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>CYCLONECLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Dartripple</strong> – long-haired blue tom with brown eyes and white chest, belly, and tail-tip <em>[Darsana – Glee Anselm Ambassador]</em></p><p> </p><p>MOUNTAINCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                      <strong>Flurrystar</strong> – silver she-cat with grey eyes <em>[Breha Organa – Queen of Alderaan]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Balefur</strong> – golden tabby tom with brown eyes and white paws <em>[Bail Organa – Alderaan Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Warriors</span>                    <strong>Antsun</strong> – golden tom with grey eyes <em>[Raymus Antilles - Pilot]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Coltspring</strong> – cream and white tabby tom with green eyes <em>[Jeremoch Colton – Pilot Captain]</em></p><p> </p><p>NIGHTCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                       <strong>Vinestar</strong> – brown tabby tom with grey eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Viscus – Nightbrother Leader]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Deputy</span>                      <strong>Ashtree</strong> – silver and white she-cat with ice-blue eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Asajj Ventress – Nightsister Force-User]</em></p><p><span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Marepaw</strong> – silver-grey tabby she-cat with brown eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Merrin – Dathomirian Nightsister]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Warriors</span>                    <strong>Snowleaf</strong> – pale yellow she-cat with grey eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Naa’leth –Nightsister Warrior]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Riftfur</strong> – pale yellow tabby she-cat with light blue eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Karis – Nightsister Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Yellowfeather</strong> – brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Yenna – Nightsister Member]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Fallentail</strong> – brown tabby she-cat with hazel eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Falta – Dathomirian Witch]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Silverstare</strong> – grey she-cat with grey eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Jerserra – Nardithi Nightsister]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Rollfur</strong> – black tabby tom with green eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Ruul – Nightbrother Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Shellswish</strong> – black and white she-cat with amber eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Shelish – Nightsister Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Savageclaw</strong> – yellow tabby tom with amber eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Savage Opress – Nightbrother Warrior]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Feralheart</strong> – tan tom with hazel eyes and long ear-tufts <em>[Feral Opress – Nightbrother Warrior]</em></p><p> </p><p>FREEZECLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediators</span>                  <strong>Bluewhisker</strong> – black tom with blue eyes <em>[Baron Notluwiska Papanoida – Pantoran Senator]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Mousepool</strong> – grey tabby she-cat with hazel eyes <em>[Chi Eekway Papanoida – Daughter of Baron]</em>        </p><p> </p><p>CANYONCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Oxear</strong> – light brown tom with grey eyes <em>[Ask Aak – Malastare Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>HILLCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Mothripple</strong> – cream and white she-cat with green eyes <em>[Mon Mothma – Chandrilla Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>MESACLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Bucktear</strong> – grey and white she-cat with amber eyes <em>[Toonbuck Toora – Sy Myrth Representive]</em></p><p> </p><p>RIVERCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Squidface</strong> – cream tom with brown eyes <em>[Tessek – Mon Calamari Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>WAVECLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Spiderface</strong> – light brown tom with dark brown eyes and long whiskers <em>[Po Nudo – Ando Representative]</em></p><p> </p><p>DRYCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Tallface</strong> – tall yellow tabby tom with amber eyes and white chin <em>[Horox Ryyder – Raioballo Sector Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>SEACLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Soilstripe</strong> – dark brown tabby tom with brown eyes <em>[Giddean Danu – Kuat Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>SHIVERCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Fangfur</strong> – black and white tabby tom with brown eyes and wavy fur <em>[Fang Zar – Sern Sector Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>PLATEAUCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Blackfrost</strong> – long-furred black and white she-cat with brown eyes <em>[Nee Alavar – Kanz Sector Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>MAZECLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Ibisclaw</strong> – dark brown tabby tom with brown eyes and greying whiskers <em>[Garm Bel Iblis – Corellia Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>JUNGLECLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Bendface</strong> – black tabby tom with brown eyes and folded right ear <em>[Tendau Bendon – Ottega Sector Senator]</em></p><p><span class="u">Apprentice</span>, <strong>Loudpaw</strong> – light brown tom with hazel eyes <em>[Oraltor – Bendon’s Assistant]</em></p><p> </p><p>GLIMMERCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Violetbreeze</strong> – light tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes <em>[Bana Breemu – Humbarine Sector Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>STREAMCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Dewsnout</strong> – large brown tom with dark brown eyes and skinny whiskers <em>[Dewell Bronk – Kedorzha Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>FENCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Tanclaw</strong> – light brown tom with grey eyes <em>[Tanner Cadaman – Feenix Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>CORALCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Sweetclaw</strong> – grey tabby tom with amber eyes <em>[Sweitt Concorkill – Sembla Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>LEAFCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Grubleap</strong> – small tan tabby tom with hazel eyes and small ears <em>[Grebleips – Brodo Asogi Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>MARSHCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Ivydrop</strong> – mottled brown she-cat with amber eyes <em>[Ivor Drake – Kestos Minor Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>SANDCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Tantail</strong> – ginger and white tabby she-cat with brown eyes <em>[Terr Taneel – Senex Sector]</em></p><p> </p><p>ICECLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Streamdrinker</strong> –sleek brown tom with dark brown eyes, short whiskers, and a thick tail <em>[Streamdrinker – Tynna Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>LOAMCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Deepfin</strong> – ginger and white tom with brown eyes and a stripe of raised fur between his ears <em>[Male-Dee – Uyter Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>TREECLAN</p><p><span class="u">Mediator</span>                   <strong>Shadehaste</strong> – light brown tabby she-cat with hazel eyes and white speckles along her haunches <em>[Shea Sadashassa – Herdessa Senator]</em></p><p> </p><p>CLAYCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                      <strong>Marredstar</strong> – grey she-cat with dark brown eyes and white forepaws <em>[Shu Mai – Commerce Guild President]</em></p><p> </p><p>SWAMPCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                      <strong>Silverstar</strong> – blue-grey tom with light green eyes <em>[Passel Argente – Corporate Alliance Magistrate]</em></p><p> </p><p>CLIFFCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                      <strong>Roachstar</strong> – dark grey tabby tom with brown eyes <em>[Poggle the Lesser – Geonosis Archduke]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Deputy</span>                     <strong>Sunclaw</strong> – brown tabby tom with dark brown eyes <em>[Sun Fac – Geonosis Aide]</em></p><p> </p><p>MOORCLAN</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                      <strong>Sandstar</strong> – light brown tabby tom with green eyes <em>[San Hill – Intergalactic Banking Clan Chairman]</em></p><p> </p><p>TRIBE OF WHITE WATERS</p><p><span class="u">Leader</span>                      <strong>Long Sun</strong> – tall cream tom with hazel eyes <em>[Lama Su – Kaminoan]</em></p><p> </p><p><span class="u">Deputy</span>                     <strong>Tall Wing</strong> – tall silver she-cat with brown eyes and white paws <em>[Taun We – Kaminoan]</em></p><p> </p><p>TRIBE OF WANDERING SANDS</p><p><span class="u">Sand-Roamers</span>          <strong>Dust Storm</strong> – small dark brown tom with amber eyes <em>[Jawa]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Haze Flight</strong> – small light brown she-cat with green eyes <em>[Jawa]</em></p><p> </p><p>CATS OUTSIDE OF CLANS</p><p><span class="u">Loners</span>                       <strong>Tawnypaw</strong> – pale yellow tabby she-cat with blue eyes <em>[Ahsoka Tano – Former Jedi Padawan]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Shell</strong> – black and white tom with green eyes who lives by a Thundersnake den <em>[Sholh Dorr – Moisture Farmer]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Dex</strong> – large brown tom with hazel eyes and an extra toe on each forepaw <em>[Dexter Jettser – Friend of Obi-Wan]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Jet</strong> – silver tabby she-cat with brown eyes <em>[Dex Waitress Droid]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Pale</strong> – cream she-cat with green eyes <em>[Polis Massa Surgical Droid]</em></p><p><strong>Mesa</strong> – grey and white she-cat with amber eyes <em>[Polis Massa Surgical Droid]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Crow – </strong>silver tabby she-cat with one blue eye and one green eye and white face <em>[Chroon-Tan B-Machine]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Owen</strong> – light brown tabby tom with brown eyes who lives in a barn near a Thundersnake den <em>[Owen Lars – Son of Cliegg]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Whitesun</strong> – cream tabby she-cat with bright green eyes and white chest who lives in a barn near a Thundersnake den <em>[Beru Whitesun – Wife of Owen]</em></p><p>
  
</p><p><span class="u">Rogues</span>                      <strong>Blue</strong> – blue-grey tom with hazel eyes <em>[Boba Fett – Clone/son of Jango]</em></p><p>                                 <strong>Tusk</strong> – dark brown tom with brown eyes <em>[Tusken Raider]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Raze</strong> – black tom with brown eyes and scarred left cheek <em>[Tusken Raider]</em></p><p><strong>                                 Sharp</strong> – brown tom with amber eyes <em>[Tusken Raider]</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Skystalker and Sunlight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here we go: the first proper chapter. (This is where the fun begins.)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Battle raged on all sides.  Even louder than the yowls and screeches of angry and injured cats, the wind howled in his ears as he dashed along the woven branches to avoid getting caught up in the fighting.</p><p>     Right now, Sunlight envied the rogue-warriors: at least they weren’t being actively pursued.</p><p>     “Redspot,” he called to his companion, “can’t you do something about those fox-hearts behind us?”</p><p>     The ForestClan she-cat glanced back at him drolly.  “Sorry, no.  Been trying.” </p><p>     Sunlight bit back a snarl, nearly losing his balance as he dropped down onto a long stone ledge just below him.  He hated this part.  <em>Hated </em>it.</p><p>     Climbing’s for squirrels.</p><p>     His Force-Crystal pulsed.  <em>“There’s not a squirrel born that can outclimb you, Sunlight.”</em></p><p>     He could still be surprised by the new depth of that voice.  The calm assurance.  The maturity.  It seemed that only a quarter-moon ago Skystalker had been a kit who wouldn’t stop pestering him about hunting techniques.</p><p><em>     “Sorry,”</em> he returned, lengthening his stride a bit more. <em>“Was that out loud?”</em></p><p>
  <em>     “Wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t.  I know what you’re thinking.”</em>
</p><p><em>     “Do you?”</em>  He looked over to the ledge on the opposite side to find his onetime apprentice practically flying along the other ledge, nimble and light-pawed as always despite his blind eye.  Sunlight purred at the sight.  <em>“Some new gift of the Force?”</em></p><p><em>     “Not the Force, Sunlight.  Experience.  That’s what you’re <strong>always</strong></em> <em>thinking.”</em></p><p>     Sunlight kept hoping to hear some of Skystalker’s old bright amusement in his tone, but he never did.  Not since Tawnypaw.  Perhaps not since the Battle of Stone-Place.</p><p>     The war had burned it out of him.</p><p>     Sunlight still tried, now and again, to spark a true amused purr from his former apprentice.  And Skystalker still tried to answer.</p><p>     They both still tried to pretend the war hadn’t changed them.</p><p><em>     “Ah.”</em>  Sunlight waved his tail to direct his Clanmate’s attention forward.  Dead ahead, a fallen tree crossed over both ledges to block their paths.  <em>“And what does experience tell you we should do about that?”</em></p><p>
  <em>     “That we should drop – <strong>now</strong>!”</em>
</p><p>     Sunlight was already making that exact move as Skystalker indicated.  The LightClan toms leapt from the ledges to race beneath the trunk together, their ForestClan companions close behind.</p><p>     No sooner had they cleared the tree than Sunlight spotted a new danger.  “Skystalker!”</p><p>     “I see them.”</p><p>     The four cats hurled themselves back onto the ledges, forcing the enemy warriors to split up to chase after them.  Three to one would be terrible odds for any normal cat.</p><p>     But two of the pursued cats were far from normal.</p><p>     The Force prompted movement and the LightClan cats led their companions this way and that until their outmatched pursuers were forced back.  Sunlight and Redspot had barely breathed sighs of relief before two more warriors came after them.</p><p>     “Oh, marvelous,” the she-cat muttered under her breath. “Why is it <em>always</em> us?”</p><p>     “And I’m running out of tricks here –”</p><p><em>     “Perfect.”</em>  Through the Force, Skystalker’s voice carried grim satisfaction.</p><p>
  <em>     “Perfect is <strong>not</strong> the description I’d use.”</em>
</p><p><em>     “Just keep moving, we have you covered,”</em> was the calm reply.</p><p><em>     “Easy for you to say.”</em>  Sunlight groaned.  “Why am I always the bait?”</p><p>     His she-cat companion managed a weak purr.  “You and me, both, friend.”</p><p>     A heartbeat later, Skystalker and Bluestripe both shot up a nearby tree, rushing along the branches to the opposite side to drop down onto the pursuers.  The unfortunate enemies were quickly thrown from the ledge and the foursome raced away.</p><p>     Redspot drew a relieved breath as they found a place to rest.  “Thanks, you two.  That was – thanks.  That’s all.”</p><p>     “Anything for friends,” Skystalker replied.  Bluestripe echoed the statement.</p><p>     Sunlight glanced at them.  “Yes, thank you.  And, Skystalker –”</p><p>     “Yes, Sunlight?”</p><p>     “Next time, <em>you’re</em> the bait.”</p><p> </p><p>     “Bluestripe, can you see where they’re holding him?”</p><p>     From his perch in the branches above, the ForestClan tom narrowed his eyes.  “Too many bushes, I can’t see much,” he called back.</p><p>     “Keep on it.”  He glanced Sunlight a few fox-lengths away, limping slightly as he paced.  “I can feel his jitters from all the way over here.”</p><p>     “LightClan cats are always calm,” Bluestripe quipped.</p><p>     “He won’t think it’s funny.  Neither do I.  Less joking, more searching.”</p><p>     For Skystalker, battles were usually as close to fun as he ever came.</p><p>     This one wasn’t.</p><p>     Not because of the overwhelming odds, or the danger he was in; he didn’t care about odds, and he didn’t think of himself as being in any particular danger.  A few enemy warriors didn’t much scare a tom who’d been in Sand-Dune-Races since he was four moons old, and had won one at six moons old.  The youngest to ever <em>finish</em> a race, let alone win one.</p><p>     In those days he had used the Force without knowing it; he’d thought the Force was something inside him, just a feeling, an instinct, a string of lucky guesses that led him along paths other cats wouldn’t dare attempt.  Now, though …</p><p>     Now –</p><p>     Now he could reach into the Force and feel the engagement throughout the forest surrounding the Gathering Place as though the whole battle was happening inside his head.</p><p>     Every tree and blade of grass became his body.  The pulse of pawsteps that caused the ground to tremble was the beat of his own heart.  Out here among the trees, he could forget about his serf-cat heritage, about his mother, about Stone-Place and his half-blindness, about Tawnypaw and all the catastrophes of this brutal war.  About everything that had been done to him.</p><p>     And everything he had done.</p><p>     He could even put aside, for as long as the battle raged just in the distance, the starfire of his love for the she-cat who waited for him in the Gathering Place far behind.  The she-cat whose breath was his only air, whose heartbeat was his only peace, whose face was the only beauty his remaining eye would ever see. </p><p>     He could put all this aside because he was a LightClan warrior.  Because it was time to do a warrior’s task.</p><p>     But today was different.</p><p>     Today wasn’t about dodging claws and teeth.  Today was about the life of the tom who might as well have been a second mentor to his beloved mate: a tom who could die if they didn’t reach him in time.</p><p>     Skystalker had been late once before.</p><p>     His ears twitched as Sunlight padded up to him, taking care to approach his left side.  “Does your friend have anything?  Redspot can’t see a thing.  Personally, I think it might be her age.”</p><p>     Skystalker studied his former mentor carefully: masking his concern but not quite able to keep it from his eyes or Force-Energy.  “Don’t worry, Sunlight.  Bluestripe can find anyone.  Have you thought about how we’ll get Foxstar out if –”</p><p>     “No.”  Sunlight sounded absolutely certain now.  “There’s no need to consider it.  Until the possible becomes actual, it is only a distraction.”</p><p>     “Be mindful of what is,” Skystalker recited, “not what might be.”  He sighed.</p><p>     The pair startled as Bluestripe suddenly dropped down.  “Found him,” he announced. “I saw them drag him into that large ruin.”</p><p>     Redspot padded over and eyed her daughter's mate with irritation.  “Bluestripe, there are <em>dozens</em> of large ruins ahead!”</p><p>     “It’s the one swarming with Tribe of Shadow warriors.”</p><p>     The warriors ahead looked more like rats from this distance.</p><p>     “Oh.  That one.”  Skystalker could practically hear Sunlight’s stomach dropping.  “Oh, <em>this</em> should be easy …”</p><p>     Now some of the warriors were peeling away to patrol the surrounding area, one patrol heading straight for their hiding place.</p><p>     “I doubt that, Sunlight.”  Skystalker’s heart clenched, but he fought the tension out of his voice.  “We might be the only ones out here.”</p><p>     “Then we will have to be enough.  Let’s go.”</p><p>     Skystalker drew a deep breath as Sunlight led the way down, forcing himself to relax as he followed close behind.</p><p> </p><p>     Sunlight wasn’t entirely sure how they managed to avoid the patrols but he was thanking StarClan and the Force, both, for such a miracle.  Unfortunately, their luck didn’t hold out as they approached the only entrance to the ruin.  He counted almost twenty warriors before they charged.</p><p>     “Scatter!” he yowled.</p><p>     The enemy had to split up as they did.  A dozen or so focused on the two LightClan cats.  Sunlight could barely see Skystalker, so swift was the younger warrior.  He was impressed at how Skystalker could flee and still take out his opponents at the same time.</p><p>     A sudden pained yowl drew his attention around.  One of the warriors attacking Redspot had caught ahold of her and knocked her down as the others lunged at the fallen she-cat eagerly.  The three toms broke away from their own opponents to fling themselves at hers.  Bluestripe’s face twisted in a howl of outrage and Skystalker’s left eye glinted darkly as he sunk his teeth into a warrior’s leg.  The remaining warriors decided that discretion was the better part of valor and fled.</p><p>     The trio turned immediately to their companion, but it was too late.  Redspot’s eyes were dull, staring blankly forward as she lay in a pool of blood that had formed from her torn throat.  Bluestripe wailed quietly and pressed his nose into his Clanmate’s side as the LightClan toms dropped their heads in respect.</p><p>     Sunlight roused himself first.  “We can mourn her later,” he mewed, touching his tail-tip to Bluestripe’s shoulder. “Come on.  We still have a task to do.”</p><p>     Bluestripe blinked in dejection, then his eyes hardened and he looked down at Redspot’s body.  “We’ll finish this for you,” he promised firmly.  With a flick of his tail, he started for the now-cleared entrance.</p><p>     Sunlight started after him but paused when he saw Skystalker hadn’t moved.  “Skystalker,” he meowed. “I understand: you want to save everyone.  You always do.  But you <em>can’t</em>.”</p><p>     The younger tom finally shook out his fur and headed after his friend.  “Don’t remind me,” he mewed, his voice tight.</p><p> </p><p>     The scar across his right eye felt fresh as he followed his two remaining companions.  Sunlight was right.  He almost always was.</p><p>
  <em>     You can’t save everyone.</em>
</p><p>     His mother’s body, broken and bloody at his paws –</p><p>     Her eyes struggling to open –</p><p>     Her quivering voice –</p><p>
  <em>     I knew you would come to me …  I missed you so much …</em>
</p><p>     That’s what it was to be not quite fast enough.</p><p>     It could happen anytime.  Anyplace.  If he was a few moments too late.  If he let his attention drift for a single heartbeat.</p><p>     Anyplace.  Anytime.</p><p>     But not here, and not now.</p><p>     He forced his mother’s face back down below the surface of his consciousness.</p><p>     Because Sunlight is here and he’s counting on him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Darkbird</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     As the trio slipped through the ruins, they noticed the absence of enemy warriors.  Any they did see were quick to disappear.</p><p>     Sunlight flattened his ears slightly.  “I hate it when they do that.”</p><p>     Skystalker looked over.  “When they do what?”</p><p>     “Disengage and fall back for no reason.”</p><p>     “There’s always a reason, Sunlight.”</p><p>     Sunlight dipped his head.  “That’s why I hate it.”</p><p>     Skystalker looked about with his good eye, flicked his tail, and turned to his ForestClan friend.  “Bluestripe, any ideas where they’ve taken Foxstar from here?”</p><p>     The tabby tom searched the perimeter of the area they were in.  After a few heartbeats, he called them behind a large pile of stones.  A gaping hole stood out at the base that appeared to lead further down beneath the ruin.  The tunnel had all appearances to have been made by the same Twolegs that had built the rest of the ruin in seasons past.</p><p>     Sunlight peered down the tunnel suspiciously.  “I never considered Twolegs as tunnellers, with their lack of claws and all.”</p><p>     Skystalker silently agreed.  Would Twolegs ever cease to amaze?</p><p>     Bluestripe flicked an ear.  “If I had to guess, I’d say Greyfuzz is probably keeping him fairly close to himself.  As far in as possible.”</p><p>     “Agreed.”  Sunlight’s tail twitched in annoyance.  “But I don’t sense many enemies down there.”</p><p>     “Nor do I,” Skystalker added.</p><p>     Bluestripe muttered, “That doesn’t make <em>sense</em>.”</p><p>     “Of course it does,” Sunlight replied. “It’s a trap.”</p><p>     Skystalker barely heard him.  He rubbed a paw over his sightless right eye over and over again.  An ache began to form in the back of his mind and flowed to encompass all of it –</p><p>     And didn’t stop.</p><p>     The scar that stretched across the right side of his face sizzled, and the space behind his eye felt like hot coals had been shoved into it, and his eye –</p><p>     His eye was on <em>fire</em>.</p><p>     “Skystalker?”</p><p>     Skystalker’s breath hissed through his teeth.  “It hurts.”</p><p>     “What, your scar?  But it’s been ten moons since you got it.”</p><p>     “I <em>know</em>.  That’s the <em>point</em>.”</p><p>     “The pain is in your mind, Skystalker –”</p><p>     “No.”  Skystalker’s heart froze over.  He slowly lowered his paw and his voice went faint and distant.  “I can feel <em>him</em>.”</p><p>     “Him?”</p><p>     “Darkbird.  He’s here.”</p><p>     “Ah.”  Sunlight bobbed his head.  “I’m sure he is.”</p><p>     Bluestripe whirled on the sage in alarm.  “You <em>knew</em>?”</p><p>     “I guessed.  Do you think Greyfuzz couldn’t have known the Tribe of Gathering would send LightClan warriors after Foxstar?  It can hardly be an accident that so few warriors would be guarding this ruin.  This is a trap.  One for LightClan cats.”  Sunlight turned to Skystalker, and his expression was as grim as Skystalker had ever seen it.  “Possibly a trap set for us.  Personally.”</p><p>     Skystalker’s ears lowered.  “You’re thinking of how he tried to recruit you at Stone-Place.  Before he sent you out to the Death-Gathering.”</p><p>     “It’s not impossible that we will again face that choice.”</p><p>     “It’s not a choice.”  Skystalker straightened and the ice in his chest thawed. </p><p>     “All right,” Bluestripe mewed, “it’s a trap.  Next move?”</p><p>     Sunlight allowed himself a slight purr of his own as he headed down the tunnel.  “Same as always, my young friend: we spring it.”</p><p>     Skystalker moved to block the ForestClan warrior’s path.  “You stay here, Bluestripe –”</p><p>     Bluestripe interrupted him immediately.  “What?  But why?”</p><p>     “No arguments.  Stay.  I mean it.”</p><p>     “So I’m just supposed to stay out here while you two risk your pelts down there?”</p><p>     “Listen, Bluestripe, one of us has to stay out here in case something goes wrong; unless you happen to be Force-Sensitive and just never informed me?”</p><p>     The other warrior huffed, but reluctantly acquiesced to his point.</p><p>     Waiting just inside the tunnel, Sunlight lifted his eyes to the stone above his head and sighed.  “He’s starting to sound more like a loner than a proper Clan cat.”</p><p>     Skystalker approached him.  “Careful, Sunlight, you’ll hurt his feelings –” He stopped in his tracks, a curious look on his face as if he were focusing on something Sunlight couldn’t see.</p><p>     “Skystalker?”</p><p>     He didn’t answer.  He couldn’t answer.  He was looking at an image inside his head.  Not an image.  A reality.</p><p>     A memory of something that hadn’t happened yet.</p><p>     He saw Darkbird sprawled on the ground.  He saw a pair of claws glowing with Force-Energy at the DarkClan cat’s throat.</p><p>     Clouds lifted from his heart: clouds of Tawnypaw’s departure, of Stone-Place, of even the ruin in the middle of Great-Sand-Place.  For the first time in too many moons he felt young: as young as he really was.</p><p>     Young, and free, and full of light.</p><p>     “Sunlight …”  His voice seemed to be coming from some other cat.  Some cat who hadn’t seen what he’d seen.  Hadn’t done what he’d done.  “Sunlight, right here – right now – you and I …”</p><p>     “Yes?”</p><p>     He blinked.  “I think we’re about to win the war.”</p><p> </p><p>     Deep beneath the ground, in a large cavern made of stone, ancient Twoleg-things lay broken and scattered throughout.  A pile of wood and harder materials blocked a hole carved into a large chunk of wood.</p><p>     With his back to the makeshift prison and to the cat trapped within it, tail curled around his paws, sat Darkbird, warrior of DarkClan.</p><p>     He considered his mentor’s work, and it was good.</p><p>     More than good.  It was <em>magnificent</em>.</p><p>     Even the occasional tremor through the ground beneath his paws, caused by the vast battle above, felt to him like a purr of approval.</p><p>     Behind him came familiar heavy pawsteps and a rasping voice: as though the tom had breathed in too much smoke in a forest fire.  “Darkbird, Sunlight and Skystalker have arrived.”</p><p>     “Yes.”  Darkbird had felt them both in the Force.  “Drive them toward me.”</p><p>     “With all due respect, I must express once more my objections –”</p><p>     Darkbird turned and rose.  From his commending height, he stared down at his half-hunched deputy.  “Your objections have been noted already, Greyfuzz.  Leave the LightClan cats to me.”</p><p>     “But driving to you here also sends them directly toward Foxstar himself!  Why does he remain here at all?  He should be hidden.  He should be guarded.  We should have had him out of the territory <em>long</em> ago!”</p><p>     “Matters are so,” Darkbird mewed, “because Darkshadow wishes them so; should you desire to press your objections, please feel at liberty to take them up with <em>him</em>.”</p><p>     “I, ah, don’t believe that will be necessary …”</p><p>     “Very well, then.  Confine your efforts to preventing additional warriors from approaching.  Without the other Clans to back them up, no LightClan cat is a danger to me.”</p><p>     Greyfuzz lowered his head respectfully.  “As you wish, Darkbird,” he rasped, then turned and hurried away.</p><p>     Darkbird allowed himself a near-inaudible purr.  Greyfuzz had his uses; not only was he an able warrior and commander, but he would soon make a marvelous target upon whom to hang every atrocity of this sadly necessary war.  Some cat had to take that particular fall, and Greyfuzz was just the cat for the task.  It certainly would not be Darkbird.</p><p>     This was, in fact, one purpose of the cataclysmic battle outside.</p><p>     But not the only one.</p><p>     He peered into the Force to sense Sunlight and Skystalker’s progress as he had so many times before:  shoulder to shoulder, claws glowing with Force-Energy as they enthusiastically cut down one foe after another.  Feeling as if they were winning, while in truth they were being chivvied exactly where the cats of DarkClan wanted them to go.</p><p>     Such kits they were.  Darkbird flicked his tail.</p><p>     It was like swallowing minnows.</p><p> </p><p>     He wasn’t entirely sure how long he sat there, observing through the Force with clinical distaste as the two LightClan cats engaged in a mouse-brained tail-chase, pursued by Tribe of Shadows warriors into and out of tunnels that wound this way and that.</p><p><em>     “It will be,”</em> he mused slowly, meditatively, within the confines of his mind, <em>“an embarrassment to be captured by him.”</em></p><p>     The voice that slipped in along the opened pathways of the Force to answer was so familiar that sometimes his own private thoughts sounded like it, instead of his own.  <em>“An embarrassment you can survive, Darkbird.  After all, he is the greatest LightClan warrior alive, is he not?  And have we not ensured that all Clans and Tribes shares this opinion?”</em></p><p><em>     “Quite so, Darkshadow.  Quite so.”</em>  Darkbird sighed.  Today he felt every one of his many seasons alive.  <em>“It is … fatiguing, to play the villain for so long.  I find myself looking forward to an honorable captivity.”</em></p><p>     A captivity that would allow him to sit out the rest of the war in comfort; a captivity that would allow him to forswear his former allegiances – when he would conveniently appear to finally discover the true extent of the Tribe of Shadows’ crimes against the common Clans and Tribes – and bind himself to the <em>new</em> leadership with his reputation for integrity and idealism firmly intact.</p><p>     The new leadership …</p><p>     This had been their star of destiny for lo, these many moons.</p><p>     A leadership clean, pure, direct: none of the messy scramble for the favor of the ignorant rabble that made up the Tribe of Gathering he so despised.  The leadership he would serve would be Authority personified.</p><p>     And he would serve it as only he could.  As he was <em>born</em> to.  He would shred LightClan to create it anew: not bound by the whims of the corrupt, self-important, weak cats who called themselves mediators, but free to bring true authority and true peace to cats that so badly needed both.</p><p>     A Clan that would not negotiate.  Would not mediate.</p><p>     A Clan that would <em>enforce</em>.</p><p>     The survivors of LightClan would become the new DarkClan.</p><p>     The Claws of the Great Clan.</p><p>     And those Claws would become a power beyond any LightClan cat’s darkest dreams.  The cats of LightClan were not the only living users of the Force: from the farthest reaches of the farthest territories, powerful Force-capable Clans and Tribes had long refused to surrender their kits to lifelong bound servitude in LightClan.  They would not so refuse DarkClan.</p><p>     They would not have the choice.</p><p>     Darkbird lowered his ears as he considered the approaching pair of LightClan cats.  <em>“May I suggest, Darkshadow, that we give Sunlight one more chance?  The support of a sage of his integrity would be invaluable in establishing the full legitimacy of our Great Clan.”</em></p><p><em>     “Ah, yes.  Sunlight.”</em>  His leader’s voice went silken.  <em>“You have long been interested in Sunlight, haven’t you?”</em></p><p>
  <em>     “Of course.  His mentor was my apprentice; in a sense, he’s practically the son of my son –”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>     “He is too old.  Too indoctrinated.  Irretrievably poisoned by LightClan fables.  We established that in Stone-Place, did we not?  In his mind, he serves the Force itself; reality is nothing in the face of such conviction.”</em>
</p><p>     Darkbird sighed.  He should, he supposed, have no difficulty with this, having ordered the sage’s death once already.  <em>“True enough, I suppose; how fortunate we are that I never labored under such illusions.”</em></p><p>
  <em>     “Sunlight must die.  Today.  At your paw.  His death may be the push of the final stone that will seal Skystalker to us forever.”</em>
</p><p>     Darkbird understood: not only would the death of his former mentor tip Skystalker’s emotions down the darkest of slopes, but it would also remove the greatest obstacle to Skystalker’s successful conversion.  As long as Sunlight was alive, Skystalker would never be securely in the DarkClan camp; Sunlight’s unshakeable faith in the LightClan code would keep Skystalker weak and far from the young tom’s true power.</p><p>     Still, though, Darkbird had some reservations.  This had all come about too quickly; had Darkshadow thought through all the implications of this task?  <em>“But I must ask, Darkshadow: is Skystalker truly the cat we want?”</em></p><p>
  <em>     “He is powerful.  Potentially more powerful than even myself.”</em>
</p><p><em>     “Which is precisely,”</em> Darkbird mused meditatively, <em>“why it might be best if I were to kill <strong>him</strong>,</em> <em>instead.”</em></p><p>
  <em>     “Are you so certain that you can?”</em>
</p><p><em>     “Please.  Of what use is power unstructured by discipline?  That tom is as much a danger to himself as he is to his enemies.  And his scarred, blind eye –”</em> Darkbird bared his teeth in distaste. <em>“Revolting.”</em></p><p><em>     “How fortunate I am”</em> – the silk in his leader’s voice softened further – <em>“to have an apprentice who feels it is appropriate to <strong>lecture</strong> me.”</em></p><p>     Darkbird flicked an ear.  <em>“I have overstepped, Darkshadow,”</em> he replied with his customary grace. <em>“I am only observing, not arguing.  Not at all.”</em></p><p>
  <em>     “Skystalker’s eye makes him, for our purposes, even better.  It is the permanent symbol of the sacrifices he has made in the name of peace and justice.  It is a mark of heroism that he must wear before all for the rest of his life; no cat can ever look at him and doubt his honor, his courage, his integrity.  He is perfect, just as he is.  <strong>Perfect</strong>.  The only question that remains is whether he is capable of transcending the false limitations of his LightClan indoctrination.  And that, my dear Darkbird, is precisely what today’s mission is designed to discover.”</em>
</p><p>     Darkbird could not argue.  Not only had the DarkClan leader introduced Darkbird to power beyond his most spectacular fantasies, but Darkshadow was also a grand manipulator so subtle that his abilities might be considered greater than even the power of the dark side itself.  It was said that whenever the Force blocks one path, it opens a tunnel … and every tunnel that had so much as cracked these past moons had found a DarkClan cat already at the edge, peering in, calculating how best to slip through.</p><p>     Improving upon his leader’s plan was near to impossible; his own idea, of substituting Sunlight for Skystalker, he had to admit was only the product of a certain misplaced sentimentality.  Skystalker was almost certainly the cat for the task.</p><p>     He should be; Darkshadow had spent a considerable number of moons making him so.</p><p>     Today’s assessment would remove the <em>almost</em>.</p><p>     He had no doubt that Skystalker would fall.  Darkbird understood that this was more an assessment for Skystalker; though Darkshadow had never indicated so directly, Darkbird was certain that he himself was being assessed as well.  Success today would show his leader that he himself was worthy of his place in DarkClan: by the end of the coming battle, he would have initiated Skystalker into the manifold glories of the dark side, just as Darkshadow had initiated him.</p><p>     He gave no thought to failure.  Why should he?</p><p>
  <em>     “But – forgive me, Darkshadow.  But Sunlight having fallen to my claws, are you certain that Skystalker will even accept my orders?  You must admit that his history offers little confidence that he is capable of obedience at all.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>     “Skystalker’s power brings with it more than mere obedience.  It brings creativity, and luck; we need never concern ourselves with the sort of instruction that Greyfuzz, for example, requires.  Even the blind mouse-brains of LightClan’s Council see clearly enough to understand this; even they no longer try to tell him <strong>how</strong>, they merely tell him <strong>what</strong>.  And he finds a way.  He always has.”</em>
</p><p>     Darkbird assented.  For the first time since Darkshadow had revealed the true subtlety of this masterpiece, Darkbird allowed himself to relax enough to imagine the outcome.</p><p>     With his heroic capture of Darkbird, Skystalker will become the ultimate hero: the greatest hero in the history of the Tribe of Gathering, perhaps of LightClan itself.  The loss of his beloved Clanmate will add just exactly the correct touch of tragedy to give melancholy weight to his story, when he stands before every cat and denounces the mediators’ corruption as impeding the war effort, when he delicately – oh, so delicately, not to mention <em>reluctantly</em> – insinuates that corruption in LightClan prolonged the war as well.</p><p>     When he announces the creation of a new Clan of Force-using warriors.</p><p>     He will be the perfect deputy for the new DarkClan.</p><p>     Darkbird could only lower his head in awe.  And to think that only a few sunrises earlier, LightClan had been so close to uncovering, even destroying, all he and Darkshadow had worked for.  But he should never have feared.  His leader never lost.  He would never lose.  He was the epitome of unbeatable.</p><p>     How can one defeat an enemy one thinks is a friend?</p><p>     And now, with a single brilliant swipe, his leader would turn LightClan back upon itself like a snake without its head.</p><p>     This was the day.  The moment.</p><p>     The death of Sunlight would be the death of the Tribe of Gathering.</p><p>     Today would see the birth of the Great Clan.</p><p>
  <em>     “Darkbird?  Are you well?”</em>
</p><p><em>     “Am I …”</em>  Darkbird realized that his eyes had misted.  <em>“Yes, Darkshadow.  I am beyond well.  Today, the climax – the grand finish – the culmination of all your moons of work … I find myself somewhat overcome.”</em></p><p>
  <em>     “Compose yourself, Darkbird.  Sunlight and Skystalker are nearly here.  Play your part, my apprentice, and every Clan and Tribe will be ours.”</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Power of the Dark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     The sounds of fighting fell silent.  Skystalker pressed himself against the wall, a litter of dead cats around his paws.  Beyond appeared to be a perfectly ordinary tunnel: open and bare and empty.</p><p>
  <em>     Made it.  At last.</em>
</p><p>     Skystalker’s body hummed to the tune of his blue-hot crystal.</p><p>     “Skystalker.”</p><p>     Sunlight stood against the opposite wall.  He looked calm in a way Skystalker could barely understand.  He gave a compassionate stare to the trembling tom.  “Skystalker, breathe,” he mewed softly. “Nearly there.”</p><p>     Skystalker drew a few steadying breaths.  “And Darkbird?”</p><p>     “Once Foxstar is safe,” Sunlight replied with a ghost of a purr, “we can hunt him down properly.”</p><p>     Skystalker slowly straightened and shook out his fur.  “He’ll need to face justice at some point.”</p><p>     Sunlight moved forward cautiously.  Nothing came after him.  He beckoned with his tail.  “I know, Skystalker.  I know it’s as personal for you as it is necessary for this war.  You must take extra care to be mindful of your training here – and not only your <em>combat</em> training.”</p><p>     Skystalker met his gaze levelly.  “Don’t worry, Sunlight,” he mewed. “I won’t let you down.  Or the Tribe.”</p><p>     “I have no doubt of that.  Just remember that Darkbird is no mere Dark Force-user like Ashtree was; he is a warrior of DarkClan.  The jaws of the trap are about to snap shut, and there may be danger here beyond the merely physical.”</p><p>     “Yes.”  Skystalker deactivated his Force-Crystal and moved past Sunlight further into the tunnel.  “I just can’t wait for all of this to end.”</p><p>     “Anticipation –”</p><p>     “Is distraction.  I know.  And I know that hope is as hollow as fear.”  Skystalker let himself purr, just a bit.  “And I know everything else you’re dying to tell me right now.”</p><p>     Sunlight’s slightly rueful head-tilt was as affectionate as a nuzzle.  “I suppose at some point I will eventually have to stop trying to train you.”</p><p>     Skystalker’s purr grew louder.  “It just shows you care, that’s all.”</p><p>     They stopped outside the last chamber in the tunnel: a huge stone chamber filled with Twoleg-things that were still mostly together.  Skystalker stayed perfectly still while he reached into chamber beyond with the Force, and let the Force reach into him.  “I’m ready, Sunlight.”</p><p>     “I know you are.”</p><p>     They stood a moment, side by side.</p><p>     Skystalker didn’t look at him; he stared through the entrance, into the chamber, searching for a hint of an unguessable future.</p><p>     He couldn’t imagine not being at war. </p><p>     And that concerned him.</p><p>     “Skystalker.”  Sunlight’s voice had gone soft, and his tail rested gently on Skystalker’s shoulder.  “There is no other Clanmate I would rather have at my side right now.  No other cat.”</p><p>     Skystalker turned, and found within Sunlight’s eyes a depth of feeling he had only rarely glimpsed in all their moons together; and the pure uncomplicated affection that rose up within him then felt like a promise from the Force itself.</p><p>     “I wouldn’t have it any other way, Sunlight,” he mewed. “Now let’s go get Foxstar.”</p><p>     “Yes,” Sunlight replied. “Let’s.”</p><p> </p><p>     From a ledge high above the large chamber, Darkbird watched the two LightClan cats cautiously pick their way across the chamber, moving slowly to avoid making a sound.</p><p>     “Darkbird.”  Just behind him, Greyfuzz sounded actively concerned.  “Our warriors are being pushed back; we can’t hold out much longer.”</p><p>     Darkbird twitched his tail, ears tilting back as the two cats below slunk closer to Foxstar.  “Call a retreat, Greyfuzz, and prepare to move out.  Once the LightClan cats are dead, I will join you at the meeting site.”</p><p>     “As you command.”</p><p>     Darkbird ignored the departing tom.  He had no further use for him.  Let Greyfuzz be destroyed along with the rest of the warriors once he was safely captured and away.</p><p>     He dipped his head to the two hulking warriors that flanked him.  He stepped forward and they fell back to take position on either side.</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker slipped along the edge of the chamber; Sunlight mirrored him on the opposite side.  There wasn’t a single sound to be heard save for their own breathing.</p><p>     In the center of the room: a single tall stump with a pile of debris blocking a large hole at its base and a raspy sound coming from inside.</p><p>     Skystalker caught Sunlight’s eye across the chamber and indicated the stump ahead with his tail.  Sunlight replied with the tail-signal for <em>approach with caution</em>, and added the signal for <em>be ready for action</em>.</p><p>     Skystalker crouched lower.  After all the trouble they’d had on the way here, anything could be in here by now.  The place could be full of Tribe of Shadows warriors, for all they knew.</p><p>     They reached the stump and saw what was inside behind the pile.</p><p>     There was a cat crouched back there – it <em>was</em> Foxstar, it was, and they caught neither sight nor scent, and he should have felt some relief, but –</p><p>     Foxstar looked bad.</p><p>     The Tribe of Gathering leader looked beyond old, looked ancient like Lightstar was ancient: possessed of incomprehensible age.  And exhausted, and in pain.</p><p>     And <em>frightened</em>.</p><p>     Skystalker was more than a little concerned.  Everything he’d seen of Foxstar, everything he’d learned from Berryheart, indicated that Foxstar had little fear of anything.  What could have happened to put fear on this brave tom’s face?</p><p>     If Sunlight was struck by any similar concern, it was invisible.  With his customary grave curtesy, the LightClan sage inclined his head.  “Foxstar,” he mewed, a calmly respectful greeting as though they had met by chance within the Gathering Place.</p><p>     Foxstar’s only response was a tight rasp.  “Skystalker, <em>behind</em> you –!”</p><p>     Skystalker didn’t turn.  He didn’t have to.  It wasn’t just the sound of pawsteps at the edge of the ledge above; the Force gathered within and around him in both warning and anticipation.</p><p>     In the Force, he could feel the focus of Foxstar’s eyes: the source of the fear that rolled off him cold wind down a mountainside.  And he could feel the even colder wave of power, colder than frost in leaf-bare, that slipped into the chamber behind him like an icicle into his back.</p><p><em>     Funny,</em> he thought. <em>After Ashtree, somehow I always expect the dark side to be hot …</em></p><p>     He drew a single calming breath.  “This,” he mewed to Foxstar, “is not a problem.”</p><p>     The voice that echoed from the ledge was elegant with undertones of silky resonance.</p><p>     Darkbird’s voice.</p><p>     “Sunlight.  Skystalker.  You are now my prisoners.”</p><p> </p><p>     The ledge provided an appropriate angle for Darkbird to make final assessments before beginning the farce.</p><p>     Like all true farce, the coming denouement would proceed with remorseless logic from its mouse-brained premise: that Darkbird could ever be overcome by mere LightClan cats.  Any LightClan cat.  What a pity his old friend Violetlight couldn’t have joined them; he had no doubt the dark brown deputy would have enjoyed the coming show.</p><p>     Darkbird had always preferred a high-minded audience.</p><p>     At least Foxstar was here, trapped within the makeshift prison at the far end of the chamber. But he was less audience than he was the creator.</p><p>     Not at all the same thing.</p><p>     Skystalker gave Darkbird only his back, but his Force-Crystal was already activated and his claws fully extended and glowing.  His tall, lean frame stood frozen with anticipation: so motionless he almost seemed to shiver.  Pathetic.  It was an insult to call this kit a warrior at all.</p><p>     Sunlight, now – he was something else entirely.  He simply stood gazing calmly up at Darkbird and the two warriors that flanked him, utterly relaxed, on his face only an expression of mild interest.</p><p>     Darkbird derived a certain melancholy satisfaction – a pleasurably lonely contemplation of his own unrecognized greatness – from a brief reflection that Skystalker would never understand how much thought and planning, how much <em>work</em>, Darkshadow had invested so hastily orchestrating his sham victory.  Nor would he ever understand the artistry, the true mastery, that Darkbird would use in his own defeat.</p><p>     But thus was life.  Sacrifices must be made, for the greater good.</p><p>     There was a war on, after all.</p><p>     He called upon the Force, gathering it to himself and wrapping himself within it.  He breathed it in and held it whirling inside his heart, clamping down upon it until he could feel every living thing in existence.</p><p>     Until he became the center of everything.</p><p>     This was the real power of the dark side, the power he had suspected even as a kit, had sought through his long life until Darkshadow had shown him that it had been his all along.  The dark side didn’t bring him to the center.  It <em>made</em> him the center.</p><p>     He drew power into his innermost being until the Force itself existed only to serve his will.</p><p>     Now the scene below subtly altered, though to the physical eye there was no change.  Powered by the dark side, Darkbird’s perception took the measure of those below him with exhilarating precision.</p><p>     Sunlight was luminous, a transparent being, an opening to a sunlit meadow of the Force.</p><p>     Skystalker was a storm cloud, flickering with dangerous lightning.</p><p>     And then there was Foxstar, of course: he was beyond power.  He showed nothing of what might be within.  Though seen with the eyes of the dark side itself, Foxstar was an event horizon.  Beneath his entirely ordinary surface was absolute, perfect nothingness.  Darkness beyond darkness.</p><p>     A dark hole in the Force.</p><p>     And he played his helpless-hostage role perfectly.</p><p>     “Get help!”  The edge of panic in his hoarse half hiss sounded real even to Darkbird.  “You <em>must</em> get help.  Neither of you is any match for a DarkClan warrior!”</p><p>     Now Skystalker turned, meeting Darkbird’s direct gaze for the first time since the fight in Stone-Place.  His reply was clearly intended as much for Darkbird as it was for Foxstar.  “Tell that to the one Sunlight shredded in Green-Trees.”</p><p>     Hmph.  Empty bravado.  Darkmaul had been a kit.  A skilled and powerful fighter, but a kit nonetheless.</p><p>     “Skystalker –” In the Force, Darkbird could feel Sunlight’s mild gratification toward Skystalker for his praise; and he could also feel Sunlight’s effortless self-restraint in focusing on the present matter.  “This time, we do it <em>together</em>.”</p><p>     Darkbird’s sharp eye picked up the glint in Skystalker’s good eye.  “I was about to say exactly that.”</p><p>     Fine, then.  Time to move this little show along.</p><p>     Darkbird leaned forward, and his Force-Crystal began to glow red; he lifted gently into the air and descended to the floor below in a slow, dignified Force-glide.  Touching down gracefully, he regarded the two LightClan cats with his tail held high.</p><p>     “Sheathe your claws and pass over your Force-Crystals, please.  Let’s not make a mess in front of Foxstar.”</p><p>     Sunlight shifted into a balanced warrior crouch: one used by Moonlight and by Lightstar.  His Force-Crystal glowed and his claws looked like small thorns of lightning.  “You won’t escape us this time, Darkbird.”</p><p>     “Escape you?  Please.”  Darkbird allowed his customary mild purr to sound.  “Do you think I orchestrated this entire mission with the intent to <em>escape</em>?  I could have taken Foxstar out of the territory long ago.  But I have better things to do with my life than to tend to him like a queen to a kit while I wait for the pair of you to attempt a rescue.”</p><p>     Skystalker shifted into a battle-ready crouch of his own.  “This is a little more than an attempt.”</p><p>     “And a little less than a rescue.”</p><p>     With a whisk of his tail, Darkbird drew himself to his full height – signaling also to the pair of warriors still on the ledge above.  “Now please.  Must I involve my warriors as well?  That becomes so untidy, and I should certainly hate for any harm to come to Foxstar.”</p><p>     Sunlight moved toward him with a slow, hypnotic grace, as though he floated a mouse-length above the ground.  “Why do I find that difficult to believe?”</p><p>     Skystalker mirrored him, swinging wide toward Darkbird’s flank.  “You weren’t so particular about bloodshed in Stone-Place.”</p><p>     Darkbird widened his eyes disarmingly.  “I bear Foxstar no ill will, mouse-brained kit.  He is neither a warrior nor a spy, whereas you and your friend here are both.  It is only an unfortunate accident of history that he has chosen to defend a corrupt Tribe against my endeavor to reform it.”</p><p>     “You mean <em>destroy</em> it.”</p><p>     “Foxstar, while a leader, is also an innocent.  You and Sunlight, on the other paw, are legitimate targets.  It is up to you whether you will accompany me as captives –” He shifted now into a fighting stance. “– or as <em>corpses</em>.”</p><p>     “Now there’s a coincidence,” Sunlight replied dryly as he swung around Darkbird to place the tom precisely between Skystalker and himself. “You face the identical choice.”</p><p>     Darkbird regarded each of them in turn with impenetrable calm.  He dipped his head casually.  “Just because there are two you, do not presume you have the advantage.”</p><p><em>     Quite simple, in the end,</em> he thought. <em>Isolate Skystalker, slaughter Sunlight.</em>  Beyond that it would merely be a matter of spinning Skystalker up into enough of a frenzy to break through his LightClan restraint and reveal the infinite view of DarkClan power.</p><p>     “Surrender.”  Sunlight’s voice deepened into finality.  “You will be given no further chance.”</p><p>     The Force crackled between them, and Darkbird decided that the time had come.  He flicked a false glance over his shoulder – a hint of a distraction to draw the attack –</p><p>     And all three of them moved at once.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I ended up splitting this one into two, thus the chapter-count adjustment</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Way of DarkClan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry this one is so late!  It took longer than expected to genre-swap it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Skystalker sprang, claws extended and ready.</p><p>     Sunlight leapt from Darkbird’s far side in perfect coordination – and the met in midair, for the DarkClan warrior was no longer between them.</p><p>     Skystalker looked up just in time to glimpse one of Darkbird’s paws as it came down on his face and smacked him tumbling toward the floor; he reached into the Force to effortlessly right himself and touched down in perfect balance to spring again toward the lightning flares, red against sky blue, that sprayed from Force-imbued claws as Darkbird pressed Sunlight away with a succession of weaving, flourishing strikes that drove the LightClan sage’s claws out of line while they reached for his heart.</p><p>     Skystalker launched himself at Darkbird’s back – and the other warrior half turned, waving his tail casually while holding Sunlight at bay.  Rubble leapt up from various corners of the chamber and whirled toward Skystalker’s head.  He slashed the first few away with ease, but a piece of broken wood caught him across the shoulder and knocked him down.</p><p>     And Darkbird barely even seemed to be paying attention to him.</p><p>     Staggering up, breathless, half stunned, Skystalker thought, <em>If this keeps up, we might be in serious trouble.</em></p><p> </p><p>     While effortlessly deflecting a rain of blue-streaking strikes from Sunlight, Darkbird felt the Force shove a broken Twoleg-stump away from the wall and send it hurtling toward his back with astonishing speed; he barely managed to lift himself enough that he could back-roll over it instead of having it shatter his spine.</p><p>     “My, my,” he purred. “The tom-kit has some power after all.”</p><p>     His back-roll brought him to his paws directly in front of the young warrior, who was charging, headlong, after the stump he had just tossed.</p><p>     “My power has become more <em>focused</em> since we last met –”</p><p>     “How lovely for you.”  Darkbird neatly sidestepped, cutting at the other’s legs, yet Skystalker’s claws met the blow as he passed and he managed to twist in midair to slap aside the casual swipe Darkbird aimed at the back of his neck – and to avoid Sunlight’s own charge as the sage leapt over his partner’s head to strike at Darkbird himself.</p><p>     “Really,” Darkbird meowed as he batted the blow aside, “this is pathetic.”</p><p>     Oh, they were certainly energetic enough, leaping and whirling, raining blows almost at random, while Darkbird continued, in his gracefully methodical way, to outmaneuver them so thoroughly it was all he could do to keep from mrrowing out loud with laughter.</p><p>     It was a simple matter of countering their tactics, which were depressingly straightforward; Skystalker was the swift one, darting here and there like a bird – attempting a LightClan variant of mouse-in-the-middle so they could come at him from both sides – while Sunlight came on in a measured cadence, deliberate as a badger, moving step by step, cutting off the angles, clumsy but relentlessly dogged as he tried to back Darkbird into a corner.</p><p>     Whereas all Darkbird need do was to slip from one side to another – and occasionally flip over a head here and there – so that he could fight each of them in turn, rather both of them at the same time.  He supposed that in their own territory, they might actually prove reasonably effective; it was clear that their style had been developed by fighting as a team against large numbers of opponents.  They were not prepared to fight together against a single Force-user, certainly not one of Darkbird’s power; he, however, had always fought alone.  It was too easy to keep the LightClan cats tripping and stumbling and getting in each other’s way.</p><p>     They didn’t even comprehend how utterly he dominated the combat.  Because they fought as they had been trained, by releasing all desire and allowing the Force to flow through them, they had no hope of countering Darkbird’s mastery of DarkClan techniques.  They had learned nothing since he had bested them in Stone-Place.</p><p>     They allowed the Force to direct them; and Darkbird directed the Force.</p><p>     He drew their strikes to his counters, and drove his own slashes with thrusts of dark power that subtly altered the LightClan cats’ balance and disrupted their timing.  He could have slaughtered both of them casually.</p><p>     However, only one death was in his plan, and this mouse-brained show was becoming tiresome.  Not to mention tiring.  The dark power that served him only so far, and he was, after all, not a young tom.</p><p>     He leaned into a blow at Sunlight’s side that the sage deflected, bringing them eye to eye no more than a mouse-length between them.  “Your moves are too slow, Sunlight.  Too predictable.  You’ll have to do better.”</p><p>     Sunlight’s response to this friendly comment was to regard him with a twinkle of gentle amusement in his eye.</p><p>     “Very well, then,” the sage mewed, and shot straight over Darkbird’s head so fast it seemed he’d vanished.</p><p>     And in the space where Sunlight had been was now only the blue lightning of Skystalker’s claws aiming straight for Darkbird’s heart.</p><p>     Only a desperate whirl to one side made what would have been a smoking gouge in his chest into a line of scorched fur.</p><p>     Darkbird thought, <em>What?</em></p><p>     He threw himself spinning up and away from the two LightClan cats to land a couple of fox-lengths away, disengaging for a heartbeat to recover his composure – that had been <em>entirely</em> too close – but by the time his paws touched down Sunlight was there to meet him, claws weaving through a defensive velocity so bewilderingly fast that Darkbird dared not even try a strike; he threw a feint toward Sunlight’s face, then dropped and spun in a reverse paw-swipe –</p><p>     But not only did Sunlight easily overleap this attack, Darkbird nearly lost his <em>own</em> paw to a slash from <em>Skystalker</em> who had again come out of <em>nowhere</em>, sending him sprawling unceremoniously across the ground.</p><p>     This was <em>not</em> in the plan.</p><p>     Skystalker slammed his following strike down so hard that the shock of deflecting it buckled Darkbird’s legs.</p><p>     Darkbird threw himself backward – and Sunlight’s claws were there to meet his neck.  Only a desperate whirling slash-block, coupled with a back kick that caught Sunlight in the haunches, bought him enough time to leap away again, and when he touched down –</p><p>     Skystalker was already there.</p><p>     The first front paw blow from Skystalker slid off Darkbird’s instinctive guard.  The second made him stumble.  The third flash of blue forced Darkbird’s paw so far to the inside that his own Force-imbued claws scorched his shoulder, and Darkbird was forced to give ground.</p><p>     Darkbird felt himself shrink.  Where had <em>this</em> come from?</p><p>     Skystalker came on, impossibly powerful, a badger with a Force-Crystal: each step a blow and each blow a step.  Darkbird backed away as fast as he dared; Skystalker stayed right on top of him.  Darkbird’s breath went short and hard.  He no longer tried to block Skystalker’s strikes but only to guide them slanting away; he could not meet Skystalker strength-to-strength – not only did the younger warrior wield tremendous reserves of Force-Energy, but his sheer physical power was astonishing –</p><p>     It was time to alter his own tactics.</p><p>     He dropped low and spun into another back kick that struck Skystalker’s shoulder sharply enough to throw the young tom off-balance, giving Darkbird the opportunity to leap away –</p><p>     Only to find himself again facing the blur of blue light that was Sunlight’s claws.</p><p>     Darkbird decided that the game had ended.</p><p>     Now it was time to kill.</p><p>     Sunlight’s mentor had been Moonlight, Darkbird’s own apprentice; Darkbird had battle-trained Moonlight thousands of times, and he knew all of the weaknesses likely passed down.  He drove a series of flashing blows toward Sunlight’s legs to draw the sage into a flipping overhead leap so that Darkbird could burn through his spine from haunches to shoulders – and this image, this plan, was so clear in Darkbird’s mind that he almost failed to notice that Sunlight met every one of his strikes without so much as shifting his stance, staying perfectly centered, perfectly balanced, never moving a whisker-length more than was necessary, deflecting without effort, swifter than the tongue of an adder.</p><p>     As Darkbird felt Skystalker regain his paws and stride once more toward his back, he found himself having a sudden, unexpected, over-powering, and entirely distressing <em>bad feeling</em> about this …</p><p>     His farce had suddenly, inexplicably, spun from humorous to deadly serious and was tumbling rapidly toward terrifying.  Realization burst through Darkbird’s consciousness: this pair of LightClan cats had somehow managed to become entirely dangerous.</p><p>     These mouse-brains might – just possibly – actually be able to beat him.</p><p>     No sense taking chances; even his leader would agree with that.  Darkshadow could come up with a new plan more easily than a new apprentice.</p><p>     He gathered the Force once more in a single indrawn breath that summoned power from throughout the forest; the slightest flicker of that power, negligent as a flick of his tail, sent Sunlight flying backward to crash hard against the wall, but Darkbird didn’t have time to enjoy it.</p><p>     Skystalker was all over him.</p><p>     The shining blue forepaw swung wildly and every claw-strike crashed against Darkbird’s defense with the unstoppable power of a falling tree; the DarkClan warrior spent lavishly of his reserve of the Force merely to meet these attacks without being sliced through, and Skystalker –</p><p>     Skystalker was getting <em>stronger</em>.</p><p>     Each counter cost Darkbird more power than he’d used to throw Sunlight across the chamber; each block aged him two moons.</p><p>     He decided he’d best revise his strategy once again.</p><p>     He no longer even tried to strike back.  Force-exhaustion began to close down his perceptions, drawing his consciousness back down to his physical form, trapping him within his own head until he could barely even feel the contours of the chamber around him; he dimly sensed the ledge far behind and above him.  He retreated toward it, but Skystalker just kept on coming, tirelessly ferocious.</p><p>     The glowing right fore-paw was everywhere, flashing here and there faster and faster until Darkbird saw the chamber through a blue haze, and now <em>Sunlight</em> was back in the picture: with a yowl of the Force, he shot forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Skystalker, and Darkbird decided that under these circumstances, it was at least arguably permissible for a respectable warrior to cheat.</p><p>     “Guards!” he yowled to the pair of cats that still stood on the ledge above. “Kill them!”</p><p>     Instantly the two warriors sprang forward and launched themselves at the LightClan cats.  Skystalker whirled to meet the oncoming pair.  Their screeches echoed through the chamber.</p><p>     Sunlight sprang forward and a single slash tore open one of the Tribe cat’s throats.  Before the sage could turn to the other Darkbird was in motion, landing a side-swipe that knocked Skystalker into the remaining Tribe warrior, who went down to a strike from blazing blue claws; he used his last burst of dark power to continue his spin into a blindingly fast back kick that brought his paw against Sunlight’s chin with a thump, knocking the LightClan sage backward.  Seeming to take him out instantly.</p><p>     Wouldn’t that be lovely?</p><p>     There was no sense in taking chances, however.</p><p>     While Sunlight’s bonelessly limp body was still tumbling through the air, Darkbird sent a surge of energy through the Force.  Sunlight’s tumble suddenly accelerated like a hawk diving toward prey.  The LightClan sage skidded along the ground and slammed into the opposite wall so hard a wood Twoleg-thing broke off from it and collapsed onto him.</p><p>     This Darkbird found exceedingly gratifying.</p><p>     Now, as for Skystalker –</p><p>     Which was as far as Darkbird got, because by the time his attention returned to the younger warrior, his vision was obscured by a blur of light brown fur.</p><p>     The impact of a hind paw against his face was a shock of fire, and there was a second impact that was his back against a broken Twoleg-stump, and then the chamber turned upside down and he fell head over tail over it.</p><p>     He was barely able to summon a large surge of dark power before what would have been a disabling impact.  The Force softened his landing and set him on his paws.</p><p>     He shook the dust from his pelt and fixed a contemptuous gaze on Skystalker, who stood tall with his tail raised high – and Darkbird couldn’t hold the stare; he found the reversal of their original positions oddly unsettling.</p><p>     There was something troublingly <em>appropriate</em> about it.</p><p>     Seeing Skystalker standing where Darkbird himself had stood only heartbeats ago … it was as though he was trying to remember a dream he’d never actually had …</p><p>     He pushed this aside, drawing once more upon the certain knowledge of his personal invincibility to open a pathway to the Force.  Power flowed into him, and his many moons of age dropped away.</p><p>     He slid into a ready stance, and beckoned with his tail.</p><p>     Skystalker leapt at him.  Even as the young tom hurtled forward, Darkbird felt a new twist in the currents of the Force between them, and he finally understood.</p><p>     He understood how Skystalker was getting stronger.  Why he no longer uttered a noise.  How he had become a creature of battle.  He understood why Darkshadow had been so interested in him for so long.</p><p>     Skystalker was a natural.</p><p>     There was a fire where his heart should be, and it was burning through the boundaries of his LightClan training.  He held the Force in a death-grip tighter than the DarkClan warrior had ever seen.</p><p>     This tom had the gift of fury.</p><p>     And even now, he was holding himself back; even now, as he lunged at Darkbird’s flank and rained blows upon the DarkClan warrior’s defenses, even as he drove Darkbird backward step by step, Darkbird could feel how Skystalker kept his fury banked behind a border of will: a border solidified by some uncontrollable dread.</p><p>     Dread, Darkbird surmised, of himself.  Of what might happen if he should ever allow that fire he used for a heart to go unchecked.</p><p>     Darkbird slipped aside from a blow and sprang backward.  “I sense great fear in you.  You are consumed by it.  Warrior With No Fear, indeed.  You are <em>false</em>, Skystalker.  You are nothing but a posturing kit.”</p><p>     He bared his fangs at the young tom.  “Aren’t you a little old to be afraid of the dark?”</p><p>     “Aren’t you a little old to spout mockery like a kit?”  Skystalker leapt for him again, and Darkbird was sent stumbling back slightly before he could match him blow for blow.</p><p>     Even so, Darkbird allowed himself to relax; he felt that spirit of playfulness coming over him again as he and Skystalker spun ‘round each other in their lethal dance.  Whatever fun was to be had, he should enjoy it while he could.</p><p>     Then Darkshadow, for some reason, decided to intervene.</p><p>     “Don’t fear what your feeling, Skystalker, <em>use</em> it!” he yowled in Foxstar’s voice. “Call upon your fury.  Focus it, and he cannot stand against you.  <em>Rage</em> is your weapon.  Strike now!  <em>Strike!  Kill</em> him!”</p><p>     Darkbird thought blankly, <em>Kill me?</em></p><p>     He and Skystalker paused for one single, final heartbeat, sides heaving, staring at each other through the dust-filled air, and in that heartbeat Darkbird found himself wondering in bewildered astonishment if Darkshadow had suddenly gotten bees in his brain.  Didn’t he understand the advice he’d just given?</p><p>     Whose side was he on, anyway?</p><p>     And through the brief glance he dared take at the trapped tom in the stump he saw in those blue eyes a dark promise, and he felt a sickening foreboding that he already knew the answer to that question.</p><p>     Treachery was the way of DarkClan.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Cat Trap</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     The heartbeat he saw fear cross Darkbird’s eyes, a starburst of clarity blossomed within Skystalker’s mind.  Something so simple and so complex flashed across his consciousness, and Skystalker’s mind was clear as a pool of water.</p><p>     In that pristine clarity, there was only one thing he needed to do.</p><p>     Decide.</p><p>     So he did.</p><p>     He decided to <em>win</em>.</p><p>     The show went on, but the suspense was over.  It’s become mere play.  Darkbird and Skystalker.  LightClan and DarkClan and DarkClan and LightClan, spinning, whirling, crashing together, slashing and snapping, slipping and twisting and ripping the air around them with snarls of power.</p><p>     Then decision became reality: Skystalker’s glowing claws sliced his opponent from shoulder to paw, and away tumbled the red Force-Crystal.  As the DarkClan tom stumbled, Skystalker reached out and the Force caught the crystal, sending it whistling through the air to Skystalker’s left fore-leg.</p><p>     Darkbird crumpled to the ground, and Skystalker found his vision of the future happening before his eyes:  two glowing paws at Darkbird’s throat.</p><p>     But both paws were <em>his</em>, and one gleamed with the crimson bloodshine of a DarkClan crystal.</p><p>     Darkbird, cringing, shrinking with dread, still found some hope in his heart that he was wrong, that Foxstar had not betrayed him, that this all was proceeding according to plan –</p><p>     Until he heard “Good, Skystalker!  Good!  I knew you could do it!” and realized that it was Foxstar’s voice and felt within the darkest depths of all he was the approach of the command that was to come next.</p><p>     “Kill him,” Foxstar meowed. “Kill him now.”</p><p>     In the ginger tom’s eyes he saw only flames.</p><p>     “Foxstar, please!” he gasped, desperate and helpless, his courage only a bitter memory.  He was reduced to begging for his life, as so many of his victims had.  “Please, you promised me <em>immunity</em>!  We had a <em>deal</em>!  <em>Help</em> me!”</p><p>     And his begging gained him a share of mercy equal to that which he had once given.</p><p>     “A deal only if you released me,” Foxstar replied, cold as ice. “Not if you used me as bait to kill my friends.”</p><p>     And he knew, then, that all had indeed been going to plan.  Darkshadow’s plan, not his own.  This had been a cat trap indeed, but the LightClan cats were not the prey.</p><p>     They were the bait.</p><p>     “Skystalker,” Foxstar mewed quietly. “Finish him.”</p><p>     Moons of LightClan training and listening to his own conscience made Skystalker hesitate; he looked down upon Darkbird and saw not a fierce DarkClan warrior but a beaten, broken, cringing old tom.</p><p>     “I won’t –”</p><p>     But when Foxstar snarled “Do it!  Now!” Skystalker felt a glimmer of unease shiver through his spine.</p><p>     And Darkbird –</p><p>     As his eyes flickered between Skystalker and Foxstar, Darkbird knew that he had been deceived not just today, but for many, many moons.  That he had never been the true apprentice.  That he had never been the heir to the power of DarkClan.  He had only been used.</p><p>     His whole life – all his victories, all his struggles, all his heritage, all his principles and his sacrifices, everything he’d done, everything he’d been, all his dreams and grand vision for the future Great Clan and the Army of DarkClan – had been only a pathetic sham, because all of them, all of <em>him</em>, added up to only this.</p><p>     He had existed only for this.</p><p>     This.</p><p>     To be the victim of Skystalker’s first cold-blooded murder.</p><p>     His pride and desperation wouldn’t allow him to accept it.  And so he twisted out of the LightClan warrior’s grip.  Flung himself at the young tom’s throat.</p><p>     Then two sets of glowing claws dug into his throat.</p><p>     And all of him became nothing at all.</p><p> </p><p>     The ground seemed to tilt on its own.  Darkbird’s body slumped down in a limp heap, and Skystalker struggled to breathe.</p><p>     The DarkClan tom had been beaten.  Defenseless beneath his enemy’s paws.</p><p>     Now Skystalker stood over a corpse that he couldn’t bear to see but he couldn’t make himself look away, and he knew that although he had only done this in self-defense, he’d still <em>done</em> this, the blood was still on his claws.</p><p>     It still felt so <em>wrong</em>.</p><p>     The red Force-Crystal fell from his leg.  “I – Why didn’t he stop?”</p><p>     And before he finished asking the question he thought he knew the answer any way.</p><p>     “You did well, Skystalker.”  Foxstar’s voice sounded strangely warm and reassuring.  “You did not only well, but <em>right</em>.  He was too dangerous to leave alive.”</p><p>     From Foxstar this sounded true, but when Skystalker repeated it inside his head he knew that Foxstar’s truth would be one he could never make himself believe.  His blood seemed to freeze and he felt sick. </p><p>     “No.  It shouldn’t have come to this,” he mewed, and his voice came out solid, and simple, and final.  Now he could look down at the corpse at his paws.</p><p>     He could see it for what it was.</p><p>     A terrible mistake.</p><p>     Guilt hit him like a tree branch.  He <em>felt</em> it – a blow to his heart that drove breath from him and made him buckle.  It didn’t matter that he had been defending himself.  Such a thing changed nothing in his mind.</p><p>     There was nothing he could utter but, “This death was still wrong.”</p><p>     And that was the whole of it, right there.</p><p>     It was still wrong.</p><p>     “Nonsense.  Tearing his Force-Crystal from him was nothing; he had powers beyond your imagination.”</p><p>     Skystalker turned to face him.  “That doesn’t matter.  It’s against LightClan’s code.”</p><p>     The weight of that statement hung in the air for several heartbeats.</p><p>     “Have you ever noticed that LightClan’s code,” Foxstar meowed, “is not always <em>right</em>?”</p><p>     Skystalker’s eyes narrowed.  “You don’t understand.  You’re not of LightClan.  You <em>can’t</em> understand.”</p><p>     “Skystalker, listen to me.  How many lives have you just saved with this strike of your claws?  Can you count them?”</p><p>     “But –”</p><p>     “It wasn’t wrong, Skystalker.  It may be <em>against LightClan’s code</em>, but it was <em>right</em>.  Perfectly natural – he made an attempt on your own life just now and he took your right eye before now; you were defending yourself and you wanted revenge.  And your revenge was <em>justice</em>.”</p><p>     “Revenge is <em>never</em> just.  It <em>can’t</em> be –”</p><p>     “Don’t be mouse-brained, Skystalker.  Revenge is the <em>origin</em> of justice.  Justice begins with revenge, and revenge is still the only justice some cats can ever hope for.”</p><p>     Skystalker looked back at Darkbird’s corpse.</p><p>     He could never unchoose this choice.  Nor could he go back and convince Darkbird to choose a peaceable option.  Neither of them could take those choices back.  As Violetlight liked to repeat, there is no such thing as a second chance.</p><p>     Shaking out his pelt, the young warrior hurried over to Foxstar’s makeshift prison; a simple flick of Skystalker’s mind removed the debris.  Foxstar emerged as if from a great shadow.</p><p>     The older tom picked his way through the remaining debris that littered the gloom-shrouded chamber, moving surprisingly quickly toward the entrance.  “Come along, Skystalker.  There is very little time.”</p><p>     But Skystalker’s attention went elsewhere almost immediately.  “Sunlight –!”</p><p>     He scrambled over to the far wall and shoved away the debris that had buried the body of his friend.  Sunlight lay entirely still, eyes closed, dust-caked blood matting his fur where his head had been cut.</p><p>     Bad as Sunlight looked, Skystalker had stood over the bodies of too many friends on too many battlefields to be panicked by a little blood.  An ear to Sunlight’s nose confirmed the strength of his breath, and Skystalker’s connection to the Force allowed him to perceive every part of his friend’s body.  No bones were broken, and no serious internal damage could be found: the sage was simply knocked unconscious, no more.</p><p>     Apparently Sunlight’s head was somewhat harder than the chamber’s stone walls.</p><p>     “Leave him, Skystalker.  There is no time.”  Foxstar was standing near the entrance.  “The Tribe of Shadows can have warriors here at any time –”</p><p>     “Then we’ll all be facing them together.”  Skystalker glanced up at the Tribe of Gathering’s leader and for that heartbeat he didn’t like the tom at all – but then he reminded himself that brave as Foxstar was, according, at least, to Berryheart, his was the strength of conviction; this tom was no warrior.  He had no way of truly comprehending what he was asking Skystalker to do.</p><p>     “His fate,” he meowed in case Foxstar had not understood, “will be the same as ours.”</p><p>     With Sunlight unconscious, Foxstar waiting ahead, and Bluestripe waiting above, with responsibility for the lives of his two closest friends and his mate’s old friend squarely upon him, Skystalker found that he had recovered his inner balance.  Under pressure, in crisis, with no one to call upon for help, he could focus again.  He had to.</p><p>     This was what he’d been born for: saving others.</p><p>     He checked that Sunlight’s Force-Crystal still clung tightly to his right fore-leg, then maneuvered the limp body onto his back and let the Force help keep it there as he ran lightly to Foxstar’s side.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Greyfuzz</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     The Tribe of Shadows was in retreat and everything was in chaos as the Tribe of Gathering pursued them.  The only Tribe of Shadows warriors who stood to fight did so to keep the opposing rogue warriors away from the large ruin. </p><p>     The only cat not bothered by the chaos stalked from one side of the stone ledge to the other, the longer fur on his shoulders waved about with every step.  He ignored the panicked screeches of his warriors and was unaffected by the pain-filled wails of the injured as they passed beneath the ledge; he watched the retreat without so much as a twitch.</p><p>     His expression could not be read – his eyes were as emotionless as a corpse – but the pure venom in his voice made up for it.</p><p>     “Either get these whimpering mouse-hearts out of the territory or get them back to the front,” he snarled at the brown tom cringing at his paws. “If this noise continues, you won’t live long enough to be killed by the Tribe of Gathering.”</p><p>     “But, but, Greyfuzz – we have too many injured, and some of them might not make it –”</p><p>     “And because of <em>that</em>, it’s useless to threaten them.  So I’m threatening <em>you</em>.  Understand?”</p><p>     He turned away before the stammering tom could summon a reply.  “Concentrate on keeping the Tribe of Gathering away from this ruin,” he ordered loudly. “They must not reach the prisoner!”</p><p> </p><p>     Their hurried pawsteps echoed through the tunnel.  Over Skystalker’s shoulder, the unconscious sage wheezed faintly.  Beside his other shoulder, Foxstar’s breath was growing heavier.  Skystalker brought them to a halt just before turning a corner. </p><p>     “We can only stand for a small amount of time,” he warned Foxstar quietly. “We need to reach Bluestripe before he’s spotted.”</p><p>     He peered cautiously around and extended his senses through the Force.  Not a single Tribe of Shadows cat could be found.  Yet.</p><p>     “We’ll have to be fast,” he mused, then turned back to Foxstar, who was huddled behind him. “Are you all right, Foxstar?  Are you well enough to run?”</p><p>     The Tribe of Gathering leader finally rose, shaking the dust from his pelt.  “I haven’t run since I was an apprentice in Green-Trees.”</p><p>     “It’s never too late to regain your stamina.”  Skystalker glanced back around the corner and moved to keep going.  “Follow me.”</p><p>     Foxstar tapped his shoulder with his tail-tip.  “Skystalker, wait.  Once we’re outside, we need to get to the upper ledges.”</p><p>     Through an entire Twoleg-ruin filled with Tribe of Shadows warriors?  Not likely.  “We need to reach Bluestripe and get back to the Gathering Place.”</p><p>     “But the upper ledges – <em>Greyfuzz</em> is there.”</p><p>     Now Skystalker did stop.  Greyfuzz.  The greatest killer of LightClan cats in the Tribe of Shadows.  In all the excitement, Skystalker had completely forgotten that Darkbird’s deputy was here.</p><p>     “You’ve defeated Darkbird,” Foxstar mewed. “Capture Greyfuzz, and you will have dealt a wound from which the Tribe of Shadows may never recover.”</p><p>     Skystalker stared at him blankly.  <em>What?</em></p><p>     “Think of it, Skystalker.”  Foxstar stood close by his shoulder, opposite to Sunlight, so close he needed only to mew very quietly right in his ear.  “You have killed their leader.  Take their deputy, and you will have practically won the war.  <em>Single-pawed</em>.  Who else could do that, Skystalker?  Lightstar?  Violetlight?  They couldn’t even capture Darkbird.  Who would have a chance against Greyfuzz, if not Skystalker of LightClan?  The cats of LightClan have never faced a crisis like this War of Rogues – but also they have never had a hero like <em>you</em>.  You can save them.  You can save <em>everyone</em>.”</p><p>     Skystalker jerked away, unease filling his mind.  He studied Foxstar with his remaining eye.  The way he had uttered that …</p><p>     Like a voice out of his nightmares.</p><p>     “That’s –” Skystalker took another step back; his paws were a little shaky. “That’s not what I’ve been taught.”</p><p>     “Forget what LightClan has taught you,” Foxstar replied. “They have no idea how powerful you really are.  <em>Use</em> your power, Skystalker.  Save the Tribe of Gathering.”</p><p>     Skystalker knew how tempting the thought was; to end the war and be recognized as a hero of the Tribe of Gathering.  Maybe he would even be given the rank of sage.  Sky<em>light</em>. </p><p>     But he knew better.  Ego was only ever a temporary satisfaction.  And there were far more pressing matters at paw.</p><p>     He felt Sunlight shift on his shoulder, moaning faintly.  Unease was replaced with worry.</p><p>     “No,” he meowed. “Sorry, Foxstar.  My orders are clear.  This is a rescue mission; your safety is my only priority.”</p><p>     “I will never be safe while Greyfuzz lives,” Foxstar countered. “Sunlight will recover at any moment.  Leave him here with me; he can see me safely to the Gathering Place.  Go for the Tribe of Shadows deputy.”</p><p>     “He wouldn’t forgive me for abandoning you both.”</p><p>     “I can make it an order, Skystalker.”</p><p>     “With respect, Foxstar: no.  You can’t.  My orders come from LightClan’s Council, and the Council’s orders come from the mediators of the Great Gathering.  You have no direct authority.”</p><p>     The ginger tom’s eyes narrowed.  “That may change.”</p><p>     Skystalker dipped his head.  “And perhaps it will, Foxstar.  But until it does, we’ll do things my way.  Let’s go.”</p><p> </p><p>     “Greyfuzz?”  The voice of one of his senior warriors interrupted Greyfuzz’s pacing.  “We are being hailed by one of their warriors.  They propose a temporary truce.”</p><p>     Grey eyes narrowed in thought.  A pause in the fighting would allow his own warriors a chance to rally.  “Acknowledge their request.  Recall our warriors now.”</p><p>     The she-cat dipped her head and hurried away to do his bidding.</p><p>     The sounds of battle ceased as he padded over to the edge overlooking the field.  One of the enemy warriors stepped forward with his tail raised.  The only thing Greyfuzz found distinctive about the blue-grey tom was the calm confidence in his grey eyes.</p><p>     “Greyfuzz of the Tribe of Shadows,” the young tom meowed briskly. “I am Longtooth of the Tribe of Gathering.  At my request, deputy of my Tribe has agreed to offer you and your warriors a chance to surrender.”</p><p>     “Surrender?”  Greyfuzz mrrowed with rusty laughter.  “Fox-dung.”</p><p>     “Please give this offer careful deliberation, Greyfuzz, as it will not be repeated.  Consider the lives of your warriors.”</p><p>     Greyfuzz cast an icy glance back at his cringing Tribe-mates.  “Why should I?”</p><p>     The young tom did not look surprised, though he did show a trace of sadness.  “Is this your reply, then?”</p><p>     “Not at all.”  Greyfuzz drew himself up; by fluffing out the ruff of fur around his shoulders, he could make himself look larger.  “I have a counteroffer.  Maintain this truce, move your warriors out of my way, and stand down while we leave.”</p><p>     “If I may use your term: fox-dung.”</p><p>     “Send a message to your deputy that if my demands are not met by sun-high, I will personally shred your precious Foxstar into mousedust in full view of the Gathering Place.  Am I understood?”</p><p>     Longtooth took this without a blink.  “Ah.  Foxstar is with you, then.”</p><p>     “He is.  Your so-called LightClan heroes have failed.  They are dead, and Foxstar remains in our paws.”</p><p>     “Ah,” the young warrior repeated. “So you will, of course, allow me to speak with him.  To, ah, reassure my Tribe-mates that you are not simply – well, to put it mildly – lying.”</p><p>     “I would not lower myself to lie to the likes of you,” Greyfuzz snarled. “I <em>assure</em> you –”</p><p>     “I do not require your assurance, Greyfuzz.  You have the same amount of time you offered us.  At sunhigh, I will have either your surrender, or confirmation that Foxstar is alive, unharmed – and present – or you and your warriors will be killed.  The choice is yours.”</p><p>     Longtooth spun about and disappeared into the brush with a whisk of his tail.  When Greyfuzz turned to the warrior nearest to him, his eyes were blankly expressionless as ever, but he made up for it with the open murder in his voice.</p><p>     “Bring the prisoner.  Now!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Rescue?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Shorter than usual, but at least it's on time!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Skystalker counted paces as he trotted up the tunnel, Sunlight over his shoulder and Foxstar at his side.  He’d started up the series of small ledges leading to the entrance when he heard the faint sounds of battle just ahead.</p><p>     A familiar angry screech pierced the air; Bluestripe’s screech.</p><p>     Skystalker looked quickly at Foxstar.  “This is a problem.  Once we’re up, take cover.”</p><p>     He charged for the entrance and emerged to find Bluestripe surrounded by Tribe of Shadows warriors.  The enemy warriors spotted him immediately and he barely had enough time to shove Sunlight’s body out of the way before they lunged for him.  He could see Foxstar cowering beneath a rock overhang.</p><p>     Skystalker and Bluestripe were good warriors, but the LightClan tom was uncomfortably aware that they were very outnumbered and wouldn’t be able to hold the enemy cats off for too long.</p><p><em>     Sunlight, old friend,</em> he thought, <em>this would be a really good time to wake up.</em></p><p> </p><p>     Sunlight opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of a battle.</p><p>     He lurched to his paws, shaking off the last bits of unconsciousness as he activated his Force-Crystal and attacked a warrior sneaking up behind Skystalker.</p><p>     He called, “Have I missed something?”</p><p>     “Well,” he heard Skystalker respond. “We’re in a bit of a situation.”</p><p>     “Really?  I hadn’t noticed,” was Sunlight’s dry comment as he flung another warrior away with the Force. “And Darkbird?”</p><p>     Skystalker replied, “Dead.”</p><p>     “Pity.”  Sunlight sighed.  “Alive, he might have been a help to us.”</p><p>     “Sunlight –”</p><p>     “Not in this particular situation, granted, but nonetheless –”</p><p>     “Can we discuss this <em>later</em>?” Bluestripe interrupted with a snarl. “Maybe when we’re not being attacked?”</p><p>     “Right, sorry.”</p><p>     Foxstar’s voice was shrill with panic behind them.  “Look out!”</p><p>     More warriors streamed into the battlefield and the four cats were surrounded in heartbeats.</p><p> </p><p>     From the stone ledge, Greyfuzz looked over the forest in front of him as he waited for the prisoner.  </p><p>     One of his warriors, a black and white she-cat who served him as a personal enforcer of sorts, raced up to him.  “Darkbird is dead!” she reported.</p><p>     He spun around, eyes wide with shock.  “What?”</p><p>     “We found the LightClan cats attempting to escape with the prisoner,” she continued. “There was a ForestClan cat helping them.”</p><p>     Greyfuzz narrowed his eyes in thought.  “Where are they now?”</p><p>     “We have them trapped by the tunnel they emerged from.”</p><p>     “Good.  Bring them here.”</p><p>     The she-cat dipped her head.  “Even the LightClan cats?”</p><p>     Greyfuzz extended his claws.  “The LightClan cats, I will execute <em>personally</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>     Two warriors and one sage stood protectively around the Tribe of Gathering leader as they assessed their very vulnerable position.</p><p>     Sunlight’s sides heaved with each breath.  “I thought we were better than this,” he mewed, disbelief warring with exhaustion in his voice.</p><p>     “Apparently not," Skystalker replied. "What now?”</p><p>     Bluestripe gave them both an irritated look.  “You’re the smart ones,” he growled. “Now’s the time for one of your brilliant ideas.”</p><p>     “Perhaps,” Foxstar mewed thoughtfully, as though the idea had only just occurred to him, “we should simply surrender to Greyfuzz.  With the death of Darkbird, I’m sure that you can …”  He cast a sidelong glance at Skystalker.  “… <em>negotiate</em> our release.”</p><p><em>     He’s persistent, I’ll give him that,</em> Skystalker thought.  He wasn’t sure if he felt impressed at that or annoyed.</p><p>     The Tribe of Shadows warriors suddenly parted slightly to let a pair of she-cats through.  They walked side by side, their gait easy and straightforward, like they had been born and raised only to fight.  And they had clearly seen battle.  One bore a scar between her ears and down her muzzle between her eyes – a scar that looked like it might have been made by Force-imbued claws.</p><p>     This warrior looked like she had fought a LightClan warrior, and survived.</p><p>     The LightClan warrior, they guessed, hadn’t.</p><p>     “Who are they?” Bluestripe asked.</p><p>     Skystalker’s ears lowered.  “I’ve heard about them; I think those two are Greyfuzz’s personal enforcers.  They’re absolutely loyal to him.”  He looked from Sunlight to Bluestripe to Foxstar and back.  “And trained to fight LightClan cats.”</p><p>     “Ah,” Sunlight replied. “Then under the circumstances, I suppose we need a second option.”</p><p>     Bluestripe pointed his tail at Foxstar.  “Foxstar’s idea is sounding pretty good right now.”</p><p>     Sunlight flicked an ear thoughtfully.</p><p>     Once the two LightClan cats handed their Force-Crystals to the two enforcers, Skystalker leaned close to Foxstar and murmured, “So you get your way after all.”</p><p>     Foxstar answered with a faint purr.  “I frequently do.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Second Option</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Greyfuzz examined the two Force-Crystals in front of him, admiring their blue gleam in the sun, and meowed, “Rare trophies, these: the Force-Crystals of Skystalker and Sunlight.  I look forward to adding them to my collection.”</p><p>     “That will not happen.  I am in control here.”</p><p>     The reply came from Sunlight, but it was not truly Sunlight who uttered it.  Sunlight was not in control.  He had the Force.  And he allowed it to flow into him and he opened himself to its flow.</p><p>     It was the Force that spoke through him.</p><p>     Greyfuzz stalked forward.  Sunlight saw death in the other’s cold grey stare, and it meant nothing to him at all.</p><p>     There was no death.  There was only the Force.</p><p>     He didn’t have to tell Skystalker to subtly nudge Foxstar out of the way; part of him <em>was</em> Skystalker, and was doing this already.  He didn’t have to tell Bluestripe to brace himself for an attack; the part of him that was the young ForestClan warrior had seen to that before they had even reached the ledge.</p><p>     Greyfuzz towered over him.  “So confident you are, Sunlight.”</p><p>     “Not confident, merely calm.”  From so close, Sunlight could see each scar on Greyfuzz’s body, and could feel the rumble of the larger tom’s growl deep in his chest.  He remembered the Great Question from ancient times: <em>What is the good, if not the teacher of the bad?  What is the bad, if not the task of the good?</em></p><p>     He mewed, “We can resolve this situation without further violence.  I am willing to accept your surrender.”</p><p>     “I’m sure you are.”  The tan tabby head tilted inquisitively.  “Does this mouse-brained <em>I-will-accept-your-surrender</em> line of yours ever actually <em>work</em>.”</p><p>     “Sometimes.  When it doesn’t, some cats get hurt.  Sometimes they die.”  Sunlight’s blue eyes met squarely the grey ones of the other.  “By <em>some cats</em>, in this case, you should understand that I mean <em>you</em>.”</p><p>     “I understand enough.  I understand that I will kill you.”  Greyfuzz shifted his weight and extended his claws.  “Here.  Now.  In view of your precious Tribe of Gathering.”</p><p>     The Force replied with Sunlight’s voice, “I don’t think so.”</p><p>     Greyfuzz was the swiftest warrior to ever live.  No cat could move nearly as fast as Greyfuzz, not even Sunlight – but he didn’t have to.</p><p>     In the Force, part of him was Greyfuzz’s intent to slaughter, and the surge from intent to action passed to Sunlight’s response without thought.  He had no need for a plan, no use for tactics.</p><p>     He had the Force.</p><p>     That flow coursed through him, washing away any thought of danger, or safety, of winning or losing.  The Force, like water, takes on the shape of the hole that is dug without fail, without thought.  The water that was Sunlight poured itself into the hole that was Greyfuzz’s attack, and while some things might be water-tight, Sunlight had yet to encounter any that were entirely, as it were, <em>Force</em>-tight …</p><p>     While the intent to swing was still forming in Greyfuzz’s mind, the part of the Force that was Sunlight was also the part of the Force that was Bluestripe, and so there was no need for actual communication between them; it was only Sunlight’s personal sense of style that brought that brought his customary purr to his throat and his customary gentle murmur to his tongue.</p><p>     “Bluestripe?”</p><p>     Even as he opened his mouth, claws were being extended from blue and white tabby paws; by the time the ForestClan tom’s name had been uttered, hind-paws had snapped out and caught one of the surrounding cats in the ribs, and in the heartbeat while even Greyfuzz’s fast reflexes had him startled and distracted, the part of the Force that was Sunlight tried a little trick.</p><p>     There was a bright clatter, and two Force-Crystals sprang into the air.</p><p>     He reached through the Force and the Force reached through him; his Force-Crystal flared to life while still in the air; it flipped toward him, and as he lifted his right paw to meet it, its thin vines wrapped around his right fore-leg and bound the stone tightly to his leg before the blue glow flashed into his claws and set them alight.</p><p>     Sunlight was so deep in the Force that he wasn’t even surprised that it had worked.</p><p>     He spun about to face Skystalker, who was already in the air, having leapt simultaneously with Sunlight’s gentle murmur because Sunlight and Skystalker were, after all, two parts of the same thing; Skystalker’s flip carried him over Sunlight’s head at the perfect range for Sunlight’s claws to flick out and burn through the warrior trying to go after his partner, and while Greyfuzz was still flinching away, Skystalker landed with his own right paw extended; Sunlight felt a surge in the stream that he was, and Skystalker’s Force-Crystal sang through the air and attached itself to Skystalker’s right fore-leg, and so, one single heartbeat after Greyfuzz had begun to summon the intent to attack, Sunlight and Skystalker stood back to back with Bluestripe in the center of the ledge.</p><p>     Sunlight regarded the Tribe of Shadows tom without emotion.  “Perhaps you should reconsider my offer.”</p><p>     Greyfuzz braced himself.  “<em>This</em> is my answer!”  He yowled angrily at his warriors, “Kill them!  <em>Kill them all</em>!”</p><p>     For one more heartbeat there was only the scuff of many approaching paws on stone.</p><p>     One heartbeat after that, the ledge was a scene of chaos.</p><p> </p><p>     Greyfuzz hung back, crouching, watching for a moment as his two enforcers waded into the LightClan cats, claws stretching to reach their intended prey.  Greyfuzz had fought Force-sensitive cats before, sometimes even in open battle, and he had found that fighting any one LightClan cat was much like fighting any other.</p><p>     Sunlight, though –</p><p>     The ease with which Sunlight had taken command of the situation was frightening.  More frightening was the fact that of the two, Skystalker was reportedly the greater warrior.  And even their ForestClan companion could match them: the young warrior had gotten a grip on a much larger tom, and now was thrashing him about so that he was striking his Tribemates.</p><p>     Greyfuzz was starting to think less about winning this particular encounter than about surviving it.</p><p>     Let his enforcers fight the LightClan cats; that’s what they were trained for – and they were doing their duty well.  One of them, Itchflight, had pressed Sunlight back against the edge; the LightClan sage might have died then and there, except that one of the lesser warriors attempted an attack, giving Sunlight the chance to dodge and allow the warrior to slam into Itchflight and send her stumbling backward.  Skystalker had stashed Foxstar elsewhere – that sniveling mouse-heart was probably trembling behind a nearby rock – and had managed to corner Scratchflip by a hole in the ledge, which for some reason he apparently expected to end the fight; he seemed completely astonished when Scratchflip whirled nimbly away and kicked Skystalker so soundly the LightClan warrior went down skidding.</p><p><em>     On the other paw,</em> Greyfuzz thought, <em>this might be salvageable after all.</em></p><p>     He turned to the closest warrior.  “Foxstar is hiding somewhere nearby.  Take two other warriors, find him, and take him to the border immediately.  Send the others here to ensure the LightClan cats don’t survive this.”</p><p>     Then a panicked screech sounded from below.  The tan tabby tom glanced down to see a swarm of cats rush toward the ruin, sending his own warriors scrambling away in terror.  At the head of the enemy charge was vaguely recognizable blue-grey tom.</p><p><em>     Ah,</em> Greyfuzz thought.  In all the excitement, he had entirely forgotten about Longtooth and his threat.  Well, now it no longer mattered whether his enforcers could overpower the LightClan cats or not: they would likely die anyway.</p><p>     When he looked back at the fight, all he could see of Scratchflip was her tail and one of her hind-legs, which lay still where she had fallen.  Skystalker was pursuing three Tribe of Shadows warriors that had Foxstar by the scruff.  While Skystalker quickly tore into the three warriors, Sunlight was in the process of doing the same to Itchflight – the she-cat was limping badly, but had enough strength left to keep going after Sunlight.  She actually managed to land one more powerful blow before the LightClan cat dug his claws into her throat, after which Itchflight dropped to the ground and didn’t rise again.</p><p>     With both enforcers down, all of the remaining warrior either started fleeing or turned to launch a final desperate attack.  The two LightClan cats and the ForestClan tom leapt together to defend Foxstar, and before Greyfuzz could order his warriors to stand down, the trio had counterattacked with enough fury that whichever warriors didn’t fall were sent scurrying for cover in a full-out retreat.</p><p>     With no other warriors to worry about, the three cats advanced to surround the Tribe of Shadows deputy.</p><p>     Greyfuzz flicked his tail in irritation.  “I’m sorry I don’t have time to fight you – it would have been an interesting match – but I have a meeting at the border.  And you …”</p><p>     He shifted himself close to a towering pile of stones that was holding up a stone structure above the ledge.</p><p>     “You,” he hissed, “have meetings with death.”</p><p>     The trio leapt, and Greyfuzz hurled himself forward – but not at his opponents.</p><p>     He leapt at the stone-pile.</p><p>     One of the larger rocks at the base was slightly shifted, weakening the pile’s ability to remain upright; when Greyfuzz struck that particular rock, his weight knocked it away entirely and sent the entire pile and the structure it was holding up crashing down.</p><p>     Hidden by the thick cloud of dust and debris, Greyfuzz leapt down from the ledge and raced away toward the border.  As he drew closer, he reflected that he was, for the first time since joining the Tribe of Shadows, violating orders: though he was under strict orders to leave the Tribe of Gathering leader unharmed, Foxstar was being crushed alongside his precious LightClan heroes.</p><p>     Then Greyfuzz dismissed the thought.  What more could he have done?  There was a war on, after all.</p><p>     He was sure Darkshadow would forgive him.</p><p> </p><p>     On the ledge, there was a new layer of stones covering the entire ledge.  The Tribe of Gathering rogue-warriors were shoving aside stones rapidly, hoping that the only corpses beneath them were enemy warriors.  Longtooth, desperate to join them, was several fox-lengths away so that he could give his report.</p><p><em>     “We have won this battle,”</em> Longtooth was informing the tom communicating through the Starstone shard embedded in his shoulder. <em>“Sunlight, Skystalker, and Bluestripe retrieved Foxstar, but they ran into trouble with Greyfuzz.”</em></p><p><em>     “Heard and understood this is.”</em>  The LightClan leader’s voice was calm.  <em>“Tell me what they require.”</em></p><p>     Longtooth glanced over at the ledge, watching as his Tribemates got closer to where they had last seen their leader and friends.</p><p><em>     “We’ll need a medicine cat or two,”</em> Longtooth replied, more calmly now. <em>“We don’t know yet how badly injured they might be, so we need to be prepared for anything.”</em></p><p><em>     “Heard and understood this is,”</em> Lightstar repeated. <em>“Thank you, Longtooth.  Valiant service for the Tribe of Gathering you have done this day – and the gratitude of LightClan you have earned.”</em></p><p>     A mere heartbeat after the connection had ended, one of the other rogue-warriors let out a yowl.  “I found them!”</p><p>     Longtooth was not much for praying to dead cats or mystical energies, but nonetheless now he found himself praising StarClan and the Force as he saw first Skystalker, then Sunlight, then Foxstar, then Bluestripe emerged from the opening they had dug.  And that all four looked relatively unharmed, if quite dusty, due to Skystalker and Sunlight jointly using the Force to keep them all from being crushed.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Fault Lines</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And after all the action of the last chapters, we now get into slow dialogue.  Nice bit of fresh air, I think</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Violetlight stood at the entrance to the Gathering Place, squinting into the wind that picked up around him.  His violet Force-Crystal gleamed in the setting sun as he shifted his weight slightly.</p><p>     Keeping watch for the approaching patrol.</p><p>     A few heartbeats later, he spotted them moving away from the trees, and allowed himself to feel a small amount of relief.  There was Foxstar, looking fairly good for everything he had been through, closely followed by a somewhat battered Sunlight, Skystalker, and Bluestripe.  Trailing behind was Longtooth and his patrol.</p><p>     Violetlight padded swiftly out to meet them.</p><p>     Upon closer inspection, the LightClan deputy could see that Foxstar seemed a bit weaker than Violetlight had first thought; he leaned slightly on Skystalker’s left shoulder as they came closer.  On Skystalker’s other side, Sunlight seemed a touch the worse for wear himself: caked with dust and leaking a trickle of blood from a head wound.</p><p>     Skystalker, by contrast, looked every bit the hero he was supposed to be.  He seemed to tower over his companions, as though he had somehow gotten even taller in the moons since Violetlight had seen him last.  His fur was tousled, his one useable eye was bright, and his walk still had the grounded grace of a natural fighter, but there was something new in his physicality: in the way he moved his head, perhaps … or something less definable.  Some new ease, new confidence.  An aura of inner power.</p><p>     Presence.</p><p>     Skystalker was not the same warrior the Council had sent off to aid NightClan three-and-a-half moons ago.</p><p>     “Foxstar,” Violetlight meowed as he met them. “Are you well?  Do you need a medicine cat?”  He gestured with his tail toward the Gathering Place.  “I have two standing by –”</p><p>     “No, no, no need,” Foxstar mewed, rather faintly. “Thank you, Violetlight, but I am well.  Quite well, thanks to these two.”</p><p>     Violetlight dipped his head.  “Sunlight?  Skystalker?”</p><p>     “I’m fine,” Skystalker replied, looking as if he meant it, and Sunlight only flicked his tail dismissively.</p><p>     “Only a scrape on the head.  The medicine cats must be needed elsewhere.”</p><p>     “They are.”  Violetlight looked grim.  “We don’t have even an early count of injured or dead.”</p><p>     He dismissed Longtooth and the patrol, who all moved away to be checked over.</p><p>     “Loudear and a couple of den-guards are on their way, Foxstar.  The rest of the Tribe will be relieved to see you’ve returned.  They’ll likely want to hear from you directly.”</p><p>     “I will speak to them, indeed.”  Foxstar touched his tail to Violetlight’s shoulder.  “You have always been of great value to me, Violetlight.  Thank you.”</p><p>     “LightClan is honored to help the Tribe of Gathering, Foxstar.”  There might have been some emphasis on <em>the Tribe of Gathering</em>.  Violetlight remained expressionless as he subtly shifted away from Foxstar’s touch.  He looked at Sunlight.  “Is there anything else to report, Sunlight?  What of Greyfuzz?”</p><p>     “He managed to escape us, unfortunately, but there is something else …”  He glanced at Skystalker, who stepped forward.</p><p>     “Darkbird was there as well,” Skystalker reported.  He had a look in his eyes that Violetlight couldn’t decipher, proud yet wary – even unhappy.  “He’s dead now.”</p><p>     “Dead?”  He looked from Skystalker to Sunlight and back again.  “Is this true?  You killed <em>Darkbird</em>?”</p><p>     “My young friend is too modest; <em>he</em> killed Darkbird.”  Purring, Sunlight indicated the head wound with a paw.  “I was … taking a nap.”</p><p>     “But …”  Violetlight blinked.  Darkbird was to the Tribe of Shadows what Foxstar was to the Tribe of Gathering: the central point binding together a multitude of special interests.  With Darkbird gone, the Tribe of Shadows would no longer really be a Tribe at all.  They’d fall to pieces within a moon.</p><p>     Within a few <em>sunrises</em>.</p><p>     Violetlight mewed again, “But …”</p><p>     And, in the end, he couldn’t think of a <em>but</em>.</p><p>     This was all so astonishing that he very nearly – almost, but not quite – purred aloud.</p><p>     “That is,” he mewed, “the best news I’ve heard since …”  He shook himself.  “Since I can’t remember.  Skystalker – how did you <em>do</em> it?”</p><p>     Inexplicably, young Skystalker’s eyes, instead of meeting Violetlight’s eyes, flicked to Foxstar.  Somehow Violetlight didn’t think this was modesty.  He looked to the ginger tom as well, his elation sinking, becoming puzzlement tinged with suspicion.</p><p>     “It was … entirely extraordinary,” Foxstar mewed blandly, oblivious to Violetlight’s narrowing gaze. “Having been a mediator my whole life I know little of battle, of course; to my untrained eye, it seemed that Darkbird may have been … a trace overconfident.  Especially after having disposed of Sunlight so neatly.”</p><p>     Sunlight ducked his head, just a bit – and Skystalker looked considerably more uncomfortable.</p><p>     “Perhaps young Skystalker was simply more … highly <em>motivated</em>,” Foxstar continued, turning a fond gaze upon him. “After all, Darkbird was fighting only to slay an enemy; Skystalker was fighting to save – if I may presume the honor – a friend.”</p><p>     Violetlight’s gaze darkened.  Fine commentary.  Perhaps even true commentary, but he still didn’t like it.</p><p>     No cat on LightClan’s Council had ever been comfortable with Foxstar’s close interest in Skystalker – they’d had more than one conversation about it with Sunlight while Skystalker had still been his apprentice – and Violetlight was less than happy to hear Foxstar stepping in for a young LightClan warrior who seemed unwilling to volunteer details.  He mewed, “I’m sure the Council will be very interested in your <em>full</em> report, Skystalker.”</p><p>     Skystalker dipped his head immediately, relief briefly flashing across his eyes.  “Of course, Violetlight.”</p><p>     “I only wish we could have brought Greyfuzz down as well,” Sunlight stated. “He is as mouse-hearted as ever.”</p><p>     Violetlight inclined his head in agreement.  “But he doesn’t have Darkbird’s charisma.  Without Darkbird to hold the Tribe of Shadows together, it will splinter, and they know it.”  He looked straight into Foxstar’s eyes.  “This is our best chance to push for peace.  We can end this war right now.”</p><p>     And while Foxstar answered, Violetlight reached into the Force.</p><p>     To Violetlight’s Force-perception, the world crystallized around them, becoming a gem of reality pierced through with flaws and fault lines of possibility.  This was Violetlight’s particular gift: to see how living things and situations fit together in the Force, to find the weak points that can cause them to break in useful ways, and to intuit what sort of strike would make the best cut.  Though he could not consistently determine the significance of the structures he perceived – the darkening cloud upon the Force that had risen with the rebirth of DarkClan made that harder with each passing sunrise – the presence of shatterpoints was always clear.</p><p>     Violetlight had supported the training of Skystalker, though it ran counter to generations of LightClan tradition, because from the structure of fault lines in the Force around him, he had been able to intuit the truth of Moonlight’s guess: that the young serf-kit from the Great-Sand-Place was in fact the prophesied chosen one, born to bring balance to the Force.  He had argued for the advancement of Sunlight to warrior, and to give the training of the chosen one into the paws of this new, untested mentor, because his unique perception had shown him powerful lines of destiny that bound their lives together, for good or ill.  When Foxstar was chosen as the Tribe of Gathering leader, he had seen that Foxstar was himself a shatterpoint of unimaginable significance: a cat upon whom might depend the fate of the Tribe of Gathering itself.</p><p>     Now he saw the three toms together, and the intricate web of fault lines and fractures that bound them each to the other was so staggeringly powerful that its structure was beyond comprehension.</p><p>     Skystalker was somehow a pivot point, the fulcrum of a balanced branch with Sunlight on one side, Foxstar on the other, and the world in the balance, but the dark cloud on the Force prevented him from reaching into the future for so much as a hint of where this might lead.  The balance was already so delicate that he could not guess the outcome of any given shift: the slightest tip in any direction would generate chaotic instability.  Anything could happen.</p><p>     Anything at all.</p><p>     And the web of fault lines that bound all three of them to each other stank of the dark side.</p><p>     He lifted his head as they entered the Gathering Place, picking out the approaching group as it hurried toward them.</p><p>     “I’m afraid peace is out of the question while Greyfuzz is at large,” Foxstar was telling him sadly. “Darkbird was the only check on Greyfuzz’s lust for slaughter; with Darkbird gone, Greyfuzz has been unleashed to rampage wherever he pleases.  I’m afraid that, far from being over, this war is about to get a very great deal <em>worse</em>.”</p><p>     “And what of DarkClan?” Sunlight asked. “Darkbird’s death should have at least begun the weakening of the darkness, but instead it feels stronger than ever.  I fear Lightstar’s intuition is correct: that Darkbird was merely the apprentice to DarkClan’s leader, not the leader.”</p><p>     Violetlight stopped walking, and the others halted with him.</p><p>     “The leader of DarkClan, if still at large, will reveal himself in time.  They always do.”  He hoped Sunlight would take the hint and shut up about it; Violetlight had no desire to speak openly of the investigation in front of the Tribe of Gathering leader.</p><p>     The less Foxstar knew, the better.</p><p>     “A more interesting puzzle is Greyfuzz,” he mewed. “He had you at his mercy, Foxstar, and mercy is not numbered among his virtues.  Though we all rejoice that he spared you, I cannot help but wonder why.”</p><p>     Foxstar flicked his tail.  “I can only assume the Tribe of Shadows preferred to have me as a hostage rather than as a martyr.  Though it is of course impossible to say; it may merely have been a whim of their deputy.  He is notoriously erratic.”</p><p>     “Perhaps the various member groups of the Tribe of Shadows can restrain him, in exchange for certain …”  Violetlight let his gaze drift casually to a point somewhere above Foxstar’s head. “… considerations.”</p><p>     “Absolutely not.”  Foxstar drew himself up, raising his tail high.  “A negotiated peace would be a recognition of the Tribe of Shadows as a legitimate group – equivalent to losing the war!  No, Violetlight, this war can end only one way.  Unconditional surrender.  And while Greyfuzz lives, that will never happen.”</p><p>     “Very well,” Violetlight replied. “Then LightClan will make the capture of Greyfuzz our particular task.”  He glanced at Skystalker and Sunlight, then back to Foxstar.  He leaned close to Foxstar and his voice went low and final, with a buried intensity that hinted – just the slightest bit – of suspicion, and warning.  “This war has gone on far too long already.  We will find him, and this war <em>will</em> end.”</p><p>     “I have no doubt of it.”  Foxstar padded away, seemingly oblivious.  “But we should never underestimate the deviousness of the Tribe of Shadows.  It is possible that even this war itself has been only one further move,” he continued with elegant, understated precision, “in some greater game.”</p><p> </p><p>     As the group of Tribe cats greeted Foxstar eagerly, though none more eagerly than the small kit that was Foxstar’s own son, Sunlight watched Skystalker pretending not to look at the group too closely.  The younger tom was trying desperately to look as if he wasn’t searching the crowd for a particular face.  The pretense was a waste of time; Skystalker radiated excitement so powerfully in the Force that Sunlight could practically hear the thunder of his heartbeat.</p><p>     Sunlight flicked an ear in partial amusement.  He had entirely too good an idea whose face his former apprentice was so hoping to see.</p><p>     As Bluestripe started toward a she-cat that Sunlight vaguely recognized as his mate, Rosefur, Violetlight caught his eye from beyond Skystalker’s shoulder.  The LightClan deputy made a nearly invisible gesture, to which Sunlight did not visibly respond; but when Skystalker moved to join Bluestripe, Sunlight stayed behind.</p><p>     Skystalker stopped, looking back at Sunlight.  “You coming?”</p><p>     “I haven’t the heart to face anyone right now,” Sunlight mewed, showing a tinge of his lingering grief over Redspot. “I’ll brief the Council.”</p><p>     “Shouldn’t I be there, too?”</p><p>     “No need.  This isn’t the formal report.  Besides –” Sunlight jerked his muzzle toward the Tribe cats. “– one of us has to play the hero.”</p><p>     Skystalker looked pained.  “But Sunlight – this whole mission was <em>your</em> idea.  You planned it.  You led the rescue.  It’s your turn to step up and take credit.”</p><p>     “You won’t get out of it that easily, my young friend.  Without you, I wouldn’t have even made it to the ruin.  You killed Darkbird, and rescued Foxstar … all while, I might be forgiven for adding, carrying some old broken-down LightClan sage unconscious on your back.”</p><p>     “Only because of your training, Sunlight –”</p><p>     “That’s just an excuse.  <em>You’re</em> the hero in this case.  Go spend your glorious day surrounded by –” Sunlight allowed himself a slightly disparaging sneeze. “– admirers.”</p><p>     Skystalker shuddered.  “Well … all right.  Just this once.  But you <em>owe</em> me.”</p><p>     “Fine, fine.”  Sunlight waved him off.  “See you later.”</p><p>     Skystalker turned back around and hurried to catch up to Bluestripe.</p><p>     The other two LightClan cats slipped away unseen, and only when they were halfway to camp and certain that they were alone did Sunlight turn to Violetlight.  “You wanted to speak with me.”</p><p>     Violetlight shifted closer to Sunlight.  “It’s Skystalker.  I don’t like how close Foxstar is to him.”</p><p>     “We’ve had this conversation before.”</p><p>     “There is something between them.  Something new.  I could see it in the Force.”  Violetlight’s voice was flat and grim.  “It felt powerful.  And extremely dangerous.”</p><p>     Sunlight paused to face him fully.  “I trust Skystalker with my life.”</p><p>     “I know you do.  I only wish we could trust Foxstar with Skystalker’s.”</p><p>     “Yes,” Sunlight agreed, tilting his ears back. “Foxstar’s decisions are … sometimes questionable.  But he dotes on Skystalker like he does Smokekit.”</p><p>     “But not his older sons.”  Violetlight looked back over the Gathering Place.  “Foxstar loves power.  If he has any other passion, I haven’t seen it.”</p><p>     Sunlight blinked in disbelief.  “I recall that not so long ago, you were something of an admirer of his.”</p><p>     “Things,” Violetlight stated grimly, “change.”</p><p>     With the memories of so many, many cats who would never return from this war fresh on his mind, Sunlight could not disagree.</p><p>     After a few heartbeats, he mewed, “What would you have me do?”</p><p>     “I am not certain.  You know my power; I cannot always interpret what I’ve seen.  Be alert.  Be mindful of Skystalker, and be careful of Foxstar.  He is not to be trusted, and his influence on Skystalker is dangerous.”</p><p>     “But Skystalker is the chosen one –”</p><p>     “All the more reason to fear an outsider’s influence.  We have circumstantial evidence that traces Darkshadow to Foxstar’s inner circle.”</p><p>     Suddenly Sunlight had difficulty breathing.  “Are you certain?”</p><p>     Violetlight lashed his tail.  “Nothing is certain.  But this raid – the capture of Foxstar had to be an inside job.  And the timing … we were closing <em>in</em> on him, Sunlight!  The information you and Skystalker discovered – we had traced the DarkClan leader to a cave just outside of the Gathering Place, not far from the entrance you used with Foxstar just now.  When the attack began, we were tracking him through a tunnel at the back of the cave.”  Violetlight turned his gaze toward a large Twoleg-den ruin at the other side of the Gathering Place.  “The trail led right below that large den there.”</p><p>     The den in question was used by the Tribe of Gathering cats exclusively, rather than the mediators of the various member-groups.  This included den-guards and even the deputy and leader of the Tribe of Gathering.  Sunlight could only utter, “Oh.”</p><p>     “We have to face the possibility – the probability – that what Darkbird told you in Stone-Place was actually <em>true</em>.  That the Great Gathering, perhaps even the Tribe itself, is under the influence – under the control – of Darkshadow.  That it has been for <em>seasons</em>.”</p><p>     “Do you –” Sunlight had to swallow before he could go on.  “Do you have any suspects?”</p><p>     “Too many.  All we know of Darkshadow is that he <em>is</em> a tom.  Slyfoot springs to mind.  I wouldn’t rule out Loudear, either.  The DarkClan leader might even be hiding among the den-guards.  There’s no way to know.”</p><p>     “Who’s handling the questioning?” Sunlight asked. “I’d be happy to sit in; my perceptions are not so refined as some, but –”</p><p>     Violetlight flicked his tail.  “Interrogate Foxstar’s deputy, medicine cat, and other guards and assistants?  Impossible.”</p><p>     “But –”</p><p>     “Foxstar will never allow it.  Though he hasn’t said so …”  Violetlight met Sunlight’s gaze pointedly.  “… I’m not sure he even believes DarkClan exists.”</p><p>     Sunlight blinked.  “But – how can he –”</p><p>     “Look at it from his point of view: the only real evidence we have is Darkbird’s word.  And he’s dead now.”</p><p>     “The DarkClan warrior in Green-Trees – the one that killed Moonlight –”</p><p>     Violetlight flicked his tail.  “Destroyed.  As you know.”  He ran a paw over his ear.  “Communication with Tribe leadership is … difficult.  I feel Foxstar has lost his trust in LightClan; I have certainly lost my trust in him.”</p><p>     “But he doesn’t have the authority to interfere with a LightClan investigation …”  Sunlight narrowed his eyes, suddenly uncertain.  “Does he?”</p><p>     “The Great Gathering has surrendered so much power, it’s hard to say where his authority stops.”</p><p>     “It’s that bad?”</p><p>     Violetlight growled.  “The only reason Foxstar’s not a suspect is because he <em>already</em> rules everything.”</p><p>     “But we are closer than we have ever been to rooting out DarkClan,” Sunlight mewed slowly. “That can only be good news.  I would think that Foxstar’s interest in Skystalker could be of use to us in this – Skystalker has the kind of access to Foxstar that other LightClan cats might only dream of.  Their connection is an asset, not a danger.”</p><p>     “You can’t tell him.”</p><p>     “I beg your pardon?”</p><p>     “Of the whole Council, only Lightstar and myself know how deep this actually goes.  And now you.  I have decided to share this with you because you are in the best situation to watch Skystalker.  Watch him.  Nothing more.”</p><p>     “We –” Sunlight blinked helplessly. “We don’t keep secrets from each other.”</p><p>     “You must keep this one.”  Violetlight locked eyes with him.  “Skystalker is arguably the most powerful Force-user alive, and he is still getting stronger.  But he is not <em>stable</em>.  You know it.  We all do.  It is why we cannot grant him the rank of sage.  We must keep him off the Council, despite his extraordinary gifts.  And LightClan prophecy … is not absolute.  The less he has to do with Foxstar, the better.”</p><p>     “But surely –” Sunlight stopped himself.  He thought of how many times Skystalker had violated orders.  He thought of how unflinchingly loyal Skystalker was to anyone he considered a friend.  He thought of the danger Foxstar faced unknowingly, with a DarkClan cat among his closest advisors …</p><p>     Violetlight was right.  This was a secret Skystalker could not be trusted to keep.</p><p>     “What <em>can</em> I tell him?”</p><p>     “Tell him nothing.  I sense the dark side around him.  Around them both.”</p><p>     “As it is around all of us,” Sunlight reminded him. “The dark side touches all of us, Violetlight.  Even you.”</p><p>     “I know that too well, Sunlight.”  For a heartbeat Sunlight saw something raw and haunted in the deputy’s eyes.  Violetlight turned away.  “It is possible that we may have to … move against Foxstar.”</p><p>     “Move <em>against</em> –?”</p><p>     “If he is truly under the control of a DarkClan cat, it may be the only way.”</p><p>     Sunlight’s whole body had gone numb.  This didn’t seem real.  It was not possible that he was actually having this conversation.</p><p>     “You haven’t <em>been</em> here, Sunlight.”  Violetlight stared bleakly down at his paws.  “You’ve been off fighting the war in the outer territories.  You don’t know what it’s been like, dealing with all the petty squabbles and special interests and greedy, grasping mouse-brains that are the Clan mediators, and Foxstar’s constant, cynical, ruthless maneuvering for power – he carves away chunks of our freedom and bandages the wounds with tiny scraps of security.  And for what?  Look at all of this, Sunlight!  We have given up so much freedom – how secure do we <em>look</em>?”</p><p>     Sunlight’s heart clenched.  This was not the Violetlight he knew and admired; it was as though the darkness in the Force was so much thicker here near the Gathering Place that it had breathed poison into Violetlight’s spirit – and perhaps was even breeding suspicion and dissension among the members of LightClan’s Council.</p><p>     The greatest danger from the darkness outside came when cats fed it with the darkness within.</p><p>     He had feared he might find matters had deteriorated when he returned to the Gathering Place and LightClan; not even in his darkest dreams had he thought it would get this bad.</p><p>     “Violetlight.  We’ll go to Lightstar together,” he meowed firmly. “And among the three of us we’ll work something out.  We will.  You’ll see.”</p><p>     “It may be too late already.”</p><p>     “It may be.  And it may not be.  We can only do what we can do, Violetlight.  A very, very wise cat once said to me, ‘We don’t have to win.  All we have to do is fight.’”</p><p>     Violetlight relaxed a bit then, and when he met Sunlight’s eye there was a faint purr in his throat – a tired, sad purr, but a purr nonetheless.  “I seem,” he mewed slowly, “to have forgotten that particular cat.  Thank you for reminding me.”</p><p>     “It was the least I could do,” Sunlight replied lightly, but a sad weight had gathered on his chest.</p><p>
  <em>     Things change, indeed.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Berryheart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Skystalker managed to stay calm as he moved through the crowd to where he’d seen Bluestripe and Rosefur.  As he quietly greeted each cat that approached him, he looked around carefully for two cats in particular, but couldn’t see either one.</p><p><em>     Where were they?</em> he wondered.  He forced away his concern.  After all, he would have sensed if anything had happened to them, even from the other side of the world.</p><p>     He finally managed to wriggle out of the crowd and hurried to catch up to Bluestripe.  A familiar yellow tom was standing with them.</p><p>     “Goldpelt!” he called. </p><p>     His brother raced eagerly up to him.  “Skystalker!” he meowed. “I’m so glad to see you’re alright!  You’ve been gone for so long I was getting worried.  I mean, Berryheart <em>did</em> see you a half-moon or so ago and she told me you were fine, but still …”</p><p>     Skystalker purred reassuringly at the younger tom.  They weren’t kin by blood, but neither considered that to be of any consequence.  They were brothers in any and every way that mattered to them.  And Skystalker was more than happy that he and Goldpelt were in this together.</p><p>     “You just said so yourself, I’m fine,” he mewed.  He glanced around again.  “Where <em>is</em> Berryheart?  Have you seen her?”</p><p>     “Of course I have.  Officially, Berryheart is <em>extremely</em> busy,” was the casual reply. “She stayed behind in the ForestClan mediators’ den to work out our arguments in regards to the new bit of Tribe business up for debate tomorrow and plans to be doing so for the rest of the day, you know how she is.”</p><p>     It took Skystalker a couple of heartbeats to realize what his younger brother <em>wasn’t</em> saying.  “<em>Officially</em>, eh?”</p><p>     “Yes.”  Goldpelt sounded entirely virtuous.  “That is my <em>official</em> answer to all queries regarding my fellow mediator’s whereabouts.  All day.”</p><p>     Skystalker glanced casually around, then leaned close and lowered his voice.  “And <em>un</em>officially?”</p><p>     The yellow tom leaned close to Skystalker’s ear.  “Unofficially, she’s waiting behind one of the broken pillars that way and to the left.  There’s a bunch of toadstools growing around it.”</p><p>     The LightClan tom knew which one Goldpelt was referring to.  It was half-hidden between a pair of ruins that were too broken to use as dens.  A perfect out-of-the-way meeting place.</p><p>     Goldpelt paused to dip his head politely at a few passing mediators before turning back to Skystalker.  “She thought it best to avoid a, ah, <em>scene</em>.  And if you’d like to visit the ForestClan mediators’ den to … <em>talk to your brother</em> about your recent adventures … you might consider staying around for the rest of the day.  And perhaps all night, as well.”</p><p>     “Goldpelt!”  Skystalker mrrowed with sudden laughter.</p><p>     The younger tom blinked innocently.  “What?  I haven’t seen my brother in <em>moons</em>.  You can hardly blame me for offering.”</p><p>     “You –” Skystalker struggled to bring his amusement under control.  “You are amazing.”</p><p>     Goldpelt purred and dipped his head to his older brother.  “I <em>did</em> learn from the best, you know.”</p><p>     Skystalker warmly butted his head against Goldpelt’s before turning to leave the three ForestClan cats alone.</p><p>     As he started up the path, he was stopped by a tiny blur of cream fur.</p><p>     “Hi, Skystalker!” the kit chirped. “Thank you for saving my father!  You’re a great warrior.”</p><p>     “Thank you, Smokekit,” Skystalker replied. “It’s an honor to serve the Tribe of Gathering.”</p><p>     “Will you become a sage?  My father says that you should be a sage because LightClan heroes get to be sages.”</p><p>     “Did he now?”  Skystalker wasn’t sure what to think of this, but didn’t want to upset the young kit.  “Foxstar is very kind.”</p><p>     He felt a presence at his shoulder and turned to find Foxstar beside him with a warm expression.  “I only speak truth.  There is no other LightClan cat more deserving.”</p><p>     Skystalker flicked his tail.  “Well, it’s not up to you or me whether I’m granted that rank.”</p><p>     “Ah.  The LightClan Council.”  Foxstar draped his tail over Skystalker’s shoulders.  “I believe I <em>can</em> be of some use to you in this.”</p><p>     Skystalker stared at him in confusion.  “<em>You</em> can?”</p><p>     “I should be very much surprised if I couldn’t.”</p><p>     Smokekit continued bouncing around, but Skystalker noticed that Foxstar’s eyes had gone distant.</p><p>     “You may have noticed that I have a certain gift,” Foxstar murmured, “for getting my way.”</p><p> </p><p>     From the shadow of a broken pillar, she watched the crowd of cats in the distance, and then she saw Rosefur and Goldpelt and yes, that was <em>Bluestripe</em>! – and so <em>he</em> could not be far behind … and only then did she finally find him among them, tall and straight, his fur glowing in the sunlight and a lively gleam in his left eye that opened her heart.</p><p>     And she could breathe again.</p><p>     Berryheart was an accomplished young she-cat, who in her short life had already been the leader of ForestClan, a daring warrior, and a measured, articulate, and persuasive voice of reason within the Great Gathering.</p><p>     But she was, for the moment, none of those things.</p><p>     She could still play at them – she pretended to be a mediator, she still wielded the moral authority of a former leader, and she was not shy about using her reputation for fierce warrior courage to her advantage in debates – but her inmost reality, the most fundamental, unbreakable core of her being, was something entirely different.</p><p>     She was Skystalker’s mate.</p><p>     Yet <em>mate</em> was a term too weak to carry the truth of her; <em>mate</em> was so small, so common, a term that could come from a flat or angry voice.  For Berryheart, indicating that she was Skystalker’s mate was neither more nor less than indicating she was alive.</p><p>     Her life before Skystalker belonged to some other cat, some lesser being to be pitied, some poor impoverished spirit who could never suspect how profoundly life should be lived.</p><p>     She didn’t dare move from her hiding spot.  She was silent, and still, only letting herself breathe, feeling the beat of her heart, and she could have stood there forever, in the shadows, and had her fondest dreams all fulfilled, simply by watching him be alive …</p><p>     But when he moved further away from the crowd, pacing in soft conversation with Balefur of MountainClan, and she heard her fellow mediator muttering something about <em>the end of Darkbird</em> and <em>the end of the war</em> and <em>finally an end to Foxstar’s war-like tactics</em>, her breath caught again and she held it, because she knew the next thing she heard would be <em>his</em> voice.</p><p>     “I wish that were so,” he mewed, “but the fighting will continue until Greyfuzz is mousedust.  Foxstar is very clear on this, and I’m sorry to say but I believe the rest of the Tribe and some of LightClan will both agree.”</p><p>     And beyond that, there was no hope she could be happier – until his eye found her silent, still shadow, and he straightened, and a new light broke over his face and he mewed, “Excuse me,” to the mediator from MountainClan, and a heartbeat later he came to her in the shadows and they were together once more.</p><p>     Their noses touched, and the world became, one last time, perfect.</p><p>     Now she could feel the warmth of his pelt against hers, tucking herself safely beneath his chin, because there was a cold dread in the center of her heart that hissed that the moment of love and warmth was only a pause in time, and when it ended, she would have to face the future.</p><p>     And she was terrified.</p><p>     Because while they had been separated, everything had changed.</p><p>     Because now she was bringing him news of a gift they gave each other – a gift of joy, and of terror.  A gift that was the tip of a claw that had already cut their past from their future.</p><p>     For many moons they had been together only in secret, only in moments stolen from the business of the Great Gathering and the war; their love had been the perfect refuge, a long quiet day, warm and sunny, sealed away from fear and doubt, from duty and from danger.  But now she carried within her something that would end their warm day forever and leave them blind in the oncoming night.</p><p>     She was more, now, than Skystalker’s mate.</p><p>     She was the mother of Skystalker’s unborn kits.</p><p> </p><p>     After an all-too-brief eternity, they finally moved apart.</p><p>     She drew in a deep breath, just taking in the presence of him after being apart for so long, meeting the deep love on his face with her own as she breathed in his warm scent.</p><p>     Some time later, she found her voice again.  “Oh my Skystalker, I – I can’t believe you’re <em>home</em>.  They told me …”  She almost choked on the memory.  “There were rumors … that you’d been <em>killed</em>.  I couldn’t –”</p><p>     “Never believe stories like that,” he murmured. “Never.  I will <em>always</em> come back to you, Berryheart.”</p><p>     “I’ve lived a season for every heartbeat we’ve been apart –”</p><p>     “It’s been a lifetime.  Two.”</p><p>     She raised a paw to a scrape along his right shoulder.  “You were hurt …”</p><p>     “Nothing serious,” he replied with a quiet purr. “Just an unfriendly reminder to keep up with my battle techniques.”</p><p>     “A <em>half-moon</em>.”  It was almost a moan.  “A half-moon – how could they <em>do</em> that to us?”</p><p>     He rested his chin lightly on top of her head.  “If Foxstar hadn’t been taken, I’d still be out there.  And while I hate leaving others in peril out there, I’m almost – it’s terrible to say it, but I’m <em>grateful</em>.  I’m glad he was taken.  It’s like it was all arranged just to bring me home again …”</p><p>     Berryheart let herself bask in his warmth and his love as he started grooming the fur between her ears, gently, as though he was afraid she was as fragile as a dream, and another deeper purr formed in his throat, as if being together would wash away every dark dream and all the sunrises and heartbeats of unbearable dread –</p><p>     But only steps away, cats crowded at one end of the main pathway, and the knowledge of the price Skystalker would pay when their love became known made her move away, and touch her tail-tip to his muzzle to ward him off.  “Skystalker, not here.  It’s too risky.”</p><p>     He sighed heavily and resignation filled his gaze.  “I know, although I wish otherwise.  I’m tired of the deception.  Of the sneaking and the lying.  We shouldn’t <em>need</em> to feel ashamed of this.  We love each other, and we are mates.  Just like thousands of beings across the world –”</p><p>     “No, Skystalker.  <em>Not</em> like all those others.  They are not of LightClan.  We can’t let our love force you out of your Clan –”</p><p>     “It won’t force me out.”  He looked down at her fondly.  “You worry too much.”</p><p>     “Skystalker, <em>listen</em> to me.”  She was desperate to make him understand.  “We have a duty to the Tribe of Gathering.  Both of us – but yours is now so much more important.  You are the face of LightClan, Skystalker.  Even after all these moons of war, many Clans and Tribes still love LightClan, and it’s mostly because they love <em>you</em>, do you understand that?  They love the <em>story</em> of you.  You’re like something out of a story told to kits, the secret hero, hidden among common cats, growing up without ever a clue of his special destiny – except for you it’s all <em>true</em>.  Sometimes I think the only reason the cats of the Great Gathering still believe we can win the war is because <em>you’re</em> fighting it for them –”</p><p>     A growl slipped from his throat before he could stop it.  “The Hero With No Fear.  A title with as much use as a dead fox …  I <em>do</em> feel fear.  Fear of losing Sunlight, or Bluestripe, or Goldpelt, or you.”  He faced her pointedly as he admitted, “I fear those far more than I fear being banished from LightClan.”</p><p>     “I know,” she mewed softly. “You’ve said so before.”</p><p>     He studied her quizzically.  “Something has changed, hasn’t?  I felt it, even out there.  And I heard it in your voice just now.”</p><p>     She lowered her head.  “Everything has changed.”</p><p>     Skystalker padded closer.  “What?  What is it?”</p><p>     Berryheart took a shaky breath.  “I’m … Skystalker, I’m expecting <em>kits</em> …”</p><p>     She watched him as everything their kits would mean raced through his mind, and her heart caught when she saw first of all the wild, almost explosive joy that dawned over his face, because that meant that whatever he had gone through so far from home, he was still her Skystalker.</p><p>     It meant that the war that had scarred his face had not scarred his spirit.</p><p>     And she watched that joy fade as he began to understand that their union could not stay hidden much longer; that even she could not lie away a pregnancy forever.  That he would be cast out in disgrace from LightClan.  That she would have to return to Green Trees and possibly face the same in ForestClan.  That the very fame that made him so important to the war would turn against them both, making them the greatest prey for those with angry souls.</p><p>     And she watched him decide that it didn’t matter.</p><p>     “That is,” he mewed slowly, that wild spark returning to his eye, “… <em>wonderful</em> … Berryheart – that’s <em>wonderful</em>.  The greatest news I’ve heard in <em>moons</em>.”</p><p>     She trembled.  “What are we going to <em>do</em>?”</p><p>     “We’re going to be happy, that’s what we’re going to do.  And we’re going to be <em>together</em>.  <em>All</em> of us.”</p><p>     “But –”</p><p>     “No.”  He pressed his head against hers, purring.  “No buts.  No worries.  I made a plan before now.  It’ll just need some revision.  You’re not the only worrier between us, you know.”</p><p>     “I know,” she replied, purring back. “That’s why we understand each other better than we think.”</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker lurched upright, gasping, staring blindly into frightening darkness.</p><p>     How she had <em>wailed</em> for him – how she had begged for him, how her strength had failed in that strange place, how at the last she could only whimper, <em>Skystalker.  Skystalker, where are you?</em> – thundered inside his head, blinding him to everything in the chamber, deafening him to every sound save for the thundering beat of his heart.</p><p>     He ran a shaky paw over his scarred eye.  Finally, he remembered where he was.</p><p>     He half turned, and she was with him, curled up with her chin on her tail, eyes closed, purring faintly in her sleep, and when he saw the long, slow rise and fall of her sides with each breath, he turned away and muffled a moan of relief.</p><p>     She was alive, and she was with him.</p><p>     In silence so deep he could hear his brother’s breathing on the other side of the chamber, he carefully moved out of the nest and padded out of the chamber.</p><p>     He stopped in front of a narrow opening and stared out into the endless night of the Gathering Place.  He could see the stars in Silverpelt shining high above, but unlike most nights he found little comfort in them tonight.</p><p>     Skystalker didn’t know long he sat there, staring.  The Gathering Place felt like he felt.  Damaged.  Broken in battle.</p><p>     Stained with darkness.</p><p>     And he’d rather look out into the cold night than think about why he was out here looking at it in the first place.</p><p>     She moved more quietly than the breeze, but he felt her approach.</p><p>     She took a place beside him at the opening and pressed her left shoulder against his right.  One of the very few he trusted to approach his blind side.  And she simply sat with him, staring silently out across the place that had become her second home.  Waiting patiently for him to tell her what was wrong.  Trusting that he would.</p><p>     He could feel her patience, and her trust, and he was so grateful for both that a purr emerged from his throat.  He blinked out at the night and gently wrapped his tail around hers until he could let himself explain.</p><p>     “It was a dream,” he mewed finally.</p><p>     She accepted this with a slow dip of her head.  “Bad?”</p><p>     “It seemed – like the ones I used to have.”  He couldn’t look at her.  “About my mother.”</p><p>     Again, a dip of her head, but even slower, and a serious expression crossed her face.  “And?”</p><p>     “And –” He looked down at her, pain in his face.  “It was about you.”</p><p>     Now she turned aside, and in the moonlight she was more beautiful than he had ever seen her.  “All right,” she mewed softly. “It was about me.”</p><p>     Then she simply waited, still trusting.</p><p>     When Skystalker could finally make himself tell her, his voice was raw and hoarse as though he’d been shrieking all day.  “It was … about you <em>dying</em>,” he mewed. “I couldn’t stand it.  I can’t stand it.”</p><p>     He couldn’t look at her.  He looked out at the ruins, at the stars, and he found no place he could bear to see.</p><p>     All he could do was close his eyes.</p><p>     “You’re going to die giving birth.”</p><p>     After a moment, the touch of her tail to his cheek brought his eyes open again, and he found her gazing up at him calmly.  “And our kits?”</p><p>     His head and tail dropped.  “I don’t know.”</p><p>     She blinked and pulled away, drifting toward a patch of soft moss.  She sat slowly down and stared down at her paws.</p><p>     He couldn’t take the distance.  He moved to stand in front of her.</p><p>     “I’m sure it won’t happen, Berryheart.  I refuse to believe it.”</p><p>     She met his gaze.  “I don’t think it will.”</p><p>     He blinked.  “You don’t?”</p><p>     “ForestClan is <em>known</em> for how well-trained all of its cats are in healing.  Our queens rarely die while kitting, if at all.  And the Tribe’s medicine cat assured me that I’m in perfect health.  Your dream must have been … just a dream.”</p><p>     “I hope so, but – my dreams are usually <em>exact</em>, Berryheart.  And I couldn’t see the place you were in – you might not even <em>be</em> in Green-Trees …”</p><p>     She looked away.  “I had been thinking – about going somewhere … somewhere else.  Having the kits in secret, to protect you.  So you can stay in LightClan.”</p><p>     “I don’t <em>want</em> to stay in LightClan.”  He pressed his head against hers, trying to will her into hearing the sincerity in his voice.  “Don’t protect me.  I don’t need it.  I <em>know</em> I can’t stay there.  Not after everything that’s happened.  I spoke with Tawnypaw right before we were called to rescue Foxstar –”</p><p>     “Did you?”  Her warm brown eyes lit up at that.  He remembered how fond she’d been of his one-time apprentice.  “How was she?”</p><p>     He managed a purr.  “Better than I’ve ever seen her.  Especially after …  Well, <em>after</em>.”  He didn’t need to indicate more than that.  “She took our place helping BloodClan so that we could return here.  We left a rogue-warrior patrol with her.”</p><p>     A mischievous glint entered her eyes.  “Let me guess: Raggedheart was part of that patrol.”</p><p>     “Of course.  He volunteered.  There’s no other cat I trust more to stand with Tawnypaw.”</p><p>     “He was quite fond of her, wasn’t he?” Berryheart asked.</p><p>     Skystalker purred.  “He still is.  And based on what I saw before we left, I do believe the feeling was mutual.”  Then he turned serious once more.  “I told her I planned to leave LightClan once this war is over.  Because all I want is for my family to be together.”</p><p>     “And we will be,” she mewed. “There must be more to your dream than the image it showed you.”</p><p>     “I know.  All I can think of is that my fears are slipping into my dreams.  Twisting them into showing lies.  I – I don’t know what I <em>can</em> do, but I feel like I need to <em>do</em> something.”</p><p>     “Of course you do.”  She licked his cheek fondly.  “That’s who you are.  That’s what being a hero is.  What about Sunlight?”</p><p>     He tilted his head.  “What about him?”</p><p>     “You told me once that he is as wise as Lightstar and as powerful as Violetlight.  Couldn’t he help us?”</p><p>     “No.”  Skystalker’s heart sank.  “I can’t – I’d have to <em>tell</em> him …”</p><p>     “He’s one of your best friends, Skystalker.  He must suspect already.”</p><p>     “He doesn’t.  But even if he did, it’d be one thing to suspect.  It’d be something else to shove it in his face.  He’s still on the Council.  He’d <em>have</em> to report me.  And …”</p><p>     “And what?”</p><p>     “To keep our kits safe from scandal I need to step away on <em>my</em> terms.  Not like what they did to Tawnypaw.”</p><p>     “Oh,” she mewed.</p><p>     “I know the cats of the Council don’t trust me, Berryheart.”  His eye went as bleak as the empty night.  “Few of them ever did.  They let me into LightClan because <em>Moonlight</em> wished it so.  His dying wish.  That’s all.”</p><p>     She reached up and pressed her nose to his chin, soothing him as only she could.</p><p>     He drew a deep breath before moving back enough to look down at her.  “Let’s forget I said anything.  None of that matters now.  I’ll be gone from LightClan soon – because you and Goldpelt and our kits are my family.  And family is meant to always be together.  I <em>will</em> be there for you, Berryheart.  Always.  No matter what.”</p><p>     “I know it, Skystalker.  I know.”  She pulled gently away.  “Now come back to sleep.  You have a report to give tomorrow, and you shouldn’t look tired in front of the Council.”</p><p>     “All right.  All right.”  He found that he could breathe again, and his shaking had stilled.  “Just –”</p><p>     He wrapped his tail around hers once more.  “Just don’t say anything to Sunlight, all right?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Sages</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Sunlight sat beside Violetlight while they watched Lightstar ponder their report.  Here in Lightstar’s simple den, every stone and piece of moss purred with gentle, comforting power: the same warm strength that Sunlight remembered enfolding him even as a kit.  This den had been Lightstar’s for over 56 seasons.  Everything within it echoed with the harmonious resonance of Lightstar’s calm wisdom, tuned through seasons of his touch.  To sit within Lightstar’s den was to inhale serenity; to Sunlight, this was a great gift in these troubled times.</p><p>     But when Lightstar looked directly at them, his eyes were anything but calm: they had gone narrow and cold, and his ears had flattened back along his head.</p><p>     “This report – from where did you hear it?”</p><p>     “LightClan still has friends in the Great Gathering,” Violetlight replied in his grim monotone, “for now.”</p><p>     “When presented this rule is, passed it will be?”</p><p>     Violetlight dipped his head.  “My source expects passage by acclamation.  Overwhelming passage.  Perhaps as early as sunhigh.”</p><p>     “Foxstar’s goal in this – unclear to me it is,” Lightstar mewed slowly. “Though technically in charge of the Council, the Tribe of Gathering may place him, LightClan he cannot control.  Moral, our authority has been.  Simply follow the Tribe’s orders, LightClan does not!”</p><p>     “I don’t think he intends to control LightClan,” Violetlight mewed. “By placing LightClan’s Council under the control of whoever leads the Tribe of Gathering, this rule will give him the authority to disband LightClan itself.”</p><p>     “Surely you cannot believe this is his intention.”</p><p>     “<em>His</em> intention?” Violetlight growled darkly. “Perhaps not.  But <em>his</em> intentions are irrelevant; all that matters now is the intent of the DarkClan leader who has the Tribe of Gathering in his claws.  And LightClan may be all that stands between him and complete domination.  What do you <em>think</em> he will do?”</p><p>     “Authority to disband LightClan, the Great Gathering would never grant.”</p><p>     “The Great Gathering will vote to grant exactly that.  At sunhigh.”</p><p>     “The implications of this, they must not comprehend!”</p><p>     “It no longer matters what they comprehend,” Violetlight countered. “They know where the power is.”</p><p>     “But even disbanded, even without true authority, still LightClan cats we would be.  LightClan served the Force long before there was a Tribe of Gathering, and serve it we will when this Tribe is but dust.”</p><p>     “Lightstar, that sunrise may be coming sooner than any of us think.  That sunrise may be <em>this</em> <em>one</em>.”  Violetlight shot a frustrated look at Sunlight, who picked up his cue smoothly.</p><p>     “We don’t know what the DarkClan leader’s plans may be,” Sunlight mewed, “but we can be certain that Foxstar is not to be trusted.  Not anymore.  This rule is not the suggestion of some overzealous mediator; we may be sure Foxstar created it himself and passed it along to some cat he controls – to make it look like the Great Gathering is once more ‘forcing him to reluctantly accept extra powers in the name of security.’  We are afraid that they will continue to do so until he’s ‘forced to reluctantly accept’ full leadership of <em>every</em> Clan and Tribe for <em>life</em>.”</p><p>     “I am convinced this is the next step in a plot aimed directly at the heart of LightClan,” Violetlight mewed. “This a move toward our destruction.  The dark side of the Force surrounds Foxstar.”</p><p>     Sunlight added, “As it has surrounded and cloaked the Tribe of Shadows since before the war began.  If Foxstar is being influenced through the dark side, this whole war may have been, from the beginning, a plot by DarkClan to destroy LightClan.”</p><p>     “Speculation!”  Lightstar lashed his tail in agitation.  “On theories such as these we cannot rely.  <em>Proof</em> we need.  Proof!”</p><p>     “Proof may be luxury we cannot afford.”  A dangerous light had entered Violetlight’s eyes.  “We must be ready to <em>act</em>.”</p><p>     “Act?” Sunlight asked mildly.</p><p>     “He cannot be allowed to move against LightClan.  He cannot be allowed to prolong the war needlessly.  Too many of our Clanmates have died already.  He is dismantling the Tribe of Gathering itself!  I have <em>seen</em> life outside the Tribe; so have you, Sunlight.  Serf-cats.  Torture.  Endless war.”</p><p>     Violetlight’s eyes darkened with the same distant, haunted shadow Sunlight had seen him wear a sunrise ago.  “I have seen it in NightClan’s territory.  I saw what it did to Deeplight and to Bearlight.  Whatever its flaws, the Tribe of Gathering is our sole hope for justice, and for peace.  It is our only defense against the dark.  Foxstar may be about to do what the Tribe of Shadows cannot: bring down the Tribe of Gathering.  If he tries, he must be stripped of his rank.”</p><p>     “Stripped of his rank?” Sunlight meowed. “You mean, <em>imprisoned</em>?”</p><p>     Lightstar’s whiskers twitched.  “To a dark place, this line of thought will lead us.  Great care, we must take.”</p><p>     “The Tribe of Gathering <em>is</em> unity.  It’s all we have.”  Violetlight looked deeply into Lightstar’s eyes, and into Sunlight’s, and Sunlight could feel the heat in the deputy’s gaze.  “We must be prepared for radical action.  It is our duty.”</p><p>     “But,” Sunlight protested numbly, “you’re talking about <em>treason</em> …”</p><p>     “I’m not afraid of words, Sunlight!  If it’s treason, then so be it.  I would do this right now, if I had the Council’s support.  The <em>real</em> treason,” Violetlight growled, “would be failure to <em>act</em>.”</p><p>     “Such an act, destroy LightClan it could,” Lightstar mewed. “Lost the trust of the Clans, we have already –”</p><p>     “No disrespect, Lightstar,” Violetlight interrupted, “but that’s a mediator’s argument.  We can’t let popular opinion stop us from doing what’s <em>right</em>.”</p><p>     “<em>Convinced</em> it is right, I am <em>not</em>,” Lightstar replied severely. “Working below-ground we should be, to uncover Darkshadow!  To move against Foxstar while DarkClan still exists – this may be part of the DarkClan leader’s plan <em>itself</em>, to turn the Tribe of Gathering and every cat against LightClan!  So that we are not only disbanded, but <em>exiled</em>.”</p><p>     Violetlight was half-standing.  “To <em>wait</em> gives DarkClan the advantage –”</p><p>     “Have the advantage <em>already</em>, they do!”  Lightstar stood almost nose-to-nose with him.  “<em>Increase</em> their advantage we will, if in haste we act!”</p><p>     “Lightstar, Violetlight, please,” Sunlight meowed.  He looked from one to the other and inclined his head respectfully.  “Perhaps there is a middle way.”</p><p>     “Ah, of course: Sunlight the Negotiator.”  Violetlight sat back down.  “I should have guessed.  That is why you asked for this meeting, isn’t it?  To mediate our differences.  If you can.”</p><p>     “So sure of your skills you are?”  Lightstar narrowed his eyes.  “Easy to negotiate, this matter is not!”</p><p>     Sunlight kept his head down.  “It seems to me,” he mewed carefully, “that Foxstar himself has given us an opening.  He has said – both to you, Violetlight, and in the announcement he gave following his rescue – that Greyfuzz is the true obstacle to peace.  Let us forget about the rest of the Tribe of Shadows founders, for now.  Let Newtstar and Sandstar and the rest run wherever they like, while we put every available sage and warrior – every Tribe of Gathering scout, if we can – to work on locating Greyfuzz himself.  This will force the paw of the DarkClan leader; he will know that Greyfuzz cannot elude our full efforts for long, once we devote ourselves exclusively to his capture.  It will draw Darkshadow out; he will have to make some sort of move, if he wishes the war to continue.”</p><p>     “If?” Violetlight echoed. “The war has been a DarkClan operation from the beginning, with Darkbird on one side and Darkshadow on the other – it has always been a plot aimed at <em>us</em>.  At LightClan.  To bleed us dry of our youngest and best.  To make us into something we were never intended to be.”</p><p>     He lashed his tail bitterly.  “I had the truth in my claws moons ago – back in NightClan territory, in the first sunrises of the war.  I had it, but I did not understand how right I was.”</p><p>     “Seen glimpses of this truth, we all have,” Lightstar mewed sadly. “Our arrogance it is, which has stopped us from fully opening our eyes.”</p><p>     “Until now,” Sunlight put in gently. “We understand now the goal of the DarkClan leader, we know his tactics, and we know where to look for him.  His actions will reveal him.  He cannot escape us.  He <em>will</em> not escape us.”</p><p>     Lightstar and Violetlight looked at each other for one long heartbeat, then both turned to Sunlight and inclined their heads in mirrors of his respectful bow.</p><p>     “Seen to the heart of the matter, young Sunlight has.”</p><p>     Violetlight agreed.  “Lightstar and I will remain here, monitoring Foxstar’s advisors and followers; we’ll move against Darkshadow the heartbeat he is revealed.  But who will capture Greyfuzz?  I have fought him before.  He is more than a match for most LightClan cats.”</p><p>     “We’ll worry about that once we find him,” Sunlight mewed.  A slight, wistful purr rumbled in his throat.  “If I listen hard enough, I can almost hear Moonlight reminding me that <em>until the possible becomes actual, it is only a distraction</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>     Greyfuzz stood silently as he stared out through the cavern entrance at the vastness of the Tribe of Shadows army.  The immense army looked small, though, against the vast cliffsides that rose around them.</p><p>     This was the Valley of Cliffs, a remote place far from the Tribe of Gathering.  It was full of sinkholes and tunnels and caverns vast enough for every living cat in the world to live.  It had long been the territory of StoneClan.  Now every corner of this place was in the claws of the Tribe of Shadows, making sure that cats of StoneClan behaved themselves.</p><p>     StoneClan had no interest in the war; it had never been a member group of the Tribe of Gathering, and had carefully maintained a stance of quiet neutrality.</p><p>     Right up until Greyfuzz had conquered them.</p><p>     Neutrality, in these times, was a joke; a Clan or Tribe was neutral only so long as neither the Tribe of Gathering nor the Tribe of Shadows wanted its territory.  If Greyfuzz could purr with amusement, he would have.</p><p>     The Clan leaders involved with the Tribe of Shadows scurried about like the rats they were – scampering in the direction of the Thundersnake den that would lead them to the safety of the newly constructed camp at the base of the Fire-river-mountain.</p><p>     But one rat was missing from the scramble.</p><p>     Greyfuzz shifted his gaze and found Newtstar a fox-length away.  The FieldClan leader stood dithering at the edge of the path down.  Greyfuzz regarded the mouse-hearted cat coldly.</p><p>     “Newtstar.”  He made no other motion.  “Why are you still here?”</p><p>     “Some things should be said privately, Greyfuzz.”  The grey and white tabby cast glances either way along the path.  “I am disturbed by this new move.  You told us that the Valley of Cliffs would be safe for us.  Why is the Shadow Council being moved now to the Fire-river-mountain?”</p><p>     Greyfuzz sighed.  He had no time for lengthy explanations; he was expecting a secret meeting with Darkshadow himself.  He could not head for the StoneClan Starstone with Newtstar standing here, nor could he follow his natural inclinations and shred the FieldClan tom into mousedust.  Greyfuzz still hoped, every day, that Darkshadow would give him leave to crush the skulls of Newtstar and his deputy, Hawkfur.  Repulsive mouse-hearted crowfood-eaters, both of them.  And the rest of the Clan leaders were every bit as vile.</p><p>     But for now, a pretense of cordiality had to be maintained.</p><p>     “The Valley of Cliffs,” Greyfuzz mewed slowly, as though explaining it to a kit, “is a hostile place being occupied by aggressive force.  It was never intended to be more than a temporary den, while the defenses of the camp by the Fire-river-mountain were completed.  Now that they are, that camp is the most secure place in the world.  The camp prepared for you can withstand every cat clinging to the Tribe of Gathering.”</p><p>     “It should,” Newtstar muttered. “Constructing it cost a lot of FieldClan lives!”</p><p>     “Don’t whine to me about the lives lost, Newtstar.  I don’t give a mousetail for them.”</p><p>     “You had better, Greyfuzz.  It’s our <em>warriors</em> that help you with this entire war!  It’s our warriors that helped to train those two <em>enforcers</em> of yours!  It’s our <em>warriors</em> –”</p><p>     Greyfuzz moved so swiftly that he seemed to disappear and reappear right in front of Newtstar.  “How much use are your warriors,” he hissed, extending long, sharp claws in the FieldClan cats face, “against <em>me</em>?”</p><p>     Newtstar flinched and backed away.  “I was only – I have some concerns about your ability to keep us <em>safe</em>, Greyfuzz, that’s all.  I – we – FieldClan cannot work in a place of fear.  What about <em>LightClan</em>?”</p><p>     “Forget LightClan.  Those cats don’t matter a whisker.”</p><p>     “They will be entering that <em>camp</em> soon enough!”</p><p>     “The camp is secure.  It can stand against a thousand LightClan warriors.  <em>Ten</em> thousand.”</p><p>     “Do you <em>hear</em> yourself? You’re crazier than a fox in a fit!”</p><p>     “What I am,” Greyfuzz replied evenly, “is unaccustomed to having my orders challenged.”</p><p>     “We are the Shadow Council!  You cannot give <em>us</em> orders!  <em>We</em> give the orders here!”</p><p>     “Are you certain of that?  Would you care to wager?”  Greyfuzz leaned close enough that he could see the reflection of his face in Newtstar’s wide amber eyes.  “Shall we, say, bet your life on it?”</p><p>     Newtstar kept on backing away.  “You tell us we’ll be safe at the Fire-river-mountain – but you <em>also</em> told us you would deliver Foxstar as a hostage, and <em>he</em> managed to escape your grip!”</p><p>     “Be thankful, Newtstar,” Greyfuzz replied, admiring the way the sun glinted against his claws, “that you have not found <em>yourself</em> in my grip.”</p><p>     He turned to go back inside.  To look on the FieldClan leader’s face for one heartbeat longer was to risk forgetting his orders and turning Newtstar into crowfood.</p><p>     “The others are waiting.”</p><p>     His ear swiveled to listen to the clear sound of Newtstar’s pawsteps retreating down the path, and not a heartbeat too soon: he spotted a faint, pulsing light coming from the Starstone chamber.  He hurried into the chamber, flicking his tail at the StoneClan medicine cat.  The terrified tom touched the Starstone once, then bolted from the chamber right before the shadowy image emerged.</p><p>     Greyfuzz, his head lowered, could only see the great cat’s barely visible paws, but that was all he needed to see.</p><p>     “Yes, Darkshadow?”</p><p>     "Have you moved the Shadow Council to the Fire-river-mountain?”</p><p>     “Yes, Darkshadow.”  He risked a glance back.  Most of the Shadow Council was nearly at the Thundersnake den.  Newtstar should be joining them at any moment; Greyfuzz had seen for himself how fast the FieldClan tom could run, given proper motivation.  “They will be there by sundown tomorrow.”</p><p>"Well done, Greyfuzz.  Now you must turn your mind to preparing our trap there in the Valley of Cliffs.  LightClan hunts you personally at last; you must be ready for their attack.”</p><p>     “Yes, Darkshadow.”</p><p>     “I am arranging matters to give you a second chance to do my bidding, Greyfuzz.  Expect that LightClan cat sent to capture you will be Sunlight.”</p><p>     “Sunlight?”  Greyfuzz bared his teeth.  “And Skystalker?”</p><p>     “I believe Skystalker will be … otherwise engaged.”</p><p>     Greyfuzz dropped his head even lower.  “I will not fail you again, Darkshadow.  Sunlight will die.”</p><p><em>     “</em>See to it.”</p><p>     “Darkshadow?  If I may trouble you with boldness – why did you not let me kill Foxstar?  We may never get a better chance.”</p><p>     “The time was not yet ripe.  Patience, Greyfuzz.  The end of the war is near, and victory is certain.”</p><p>     “Even with the loss of Darkbird?”</p><p>     “Darkbird was not lost, he was sacrificed – a strategic sacrifice, as one offers up a mouse as bait: to draw larger prey into a fatal blunder.”</p><p>     “I was never much for such hunting techniques, Darkshadow.  I prefer <em>real</em> war.”</p><p>     “And you shall have your fill, I promise you.”</p><p>     “This fatal blunder you speak of – if I may once again trouble you with boldness …”</p><p>     “You will come to understand soon enough.”</p><p>     Greyfuzz could hear the satisfaction in the powerful tom’s voice.</p><p>     “All will be clear, once you meet my <strong>new</strong> apprentice.”</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker shook dust from his fur as he trotted out across the large area at the edge of the LightClan camp.  Far across the expanse of stone stood a pair of Tribe den-guards.  Skystalker studied them with concern.</p><p>     And coming toward him from the direction of the den-guards, fur ruffling in the morning wind – was that Sunlight?</p><p>     “Finally,” Skystalker breathed.  He’d scoured the camp for his former mentor; he’d nearly given up hope of finding him when Trillpaw and Mantisheart had mentioned that they’d seen Sunlight on his way out to meet the approaching den-guards.  He wondered what they were here for.</p><p>     Then he turned his mind back to his conversation from earlier.</p><p>     Although Berryheart had reassured him that his nightmare was just a manifestation of his own fears, when it came to him again, he was spooked.  Did its reoccurrence mean that it <em>was</em> a prophecy after all?  He knew that Force-prophecy was not absolute – but his had a habit of always coming true.  Down to the slightest detail.  He had known as a kit that he would be chosen by the cats of LightClan.  He had known his adventures would span the world.  At six-moons-old, long before he even understood what love was, he had looked upon Berryheart’s lovely face and seen there that she would love him, and that they would someday be mates.</p><p>     He had seen his own mother’s pain and anguish.  Before her death.</p><p>     But he also understood what the great sages of LightClan’s past had always taught that the gravest danger in trying to prevent a vision of the future from coming to pass is that in doing so, a cat can actually <em>bring</em> it to pass.</p><p>     The uncertainty of the nightmare was unbearable.</p><p>     When a LightClan cat had a question about the deepest subtleties of the Force, there was one source to whom he could always turn; and so, immediately after checking on the youngest member of the Clan, who Berryheart had brought back over a half-moon earlier at his and Sunlight’s request, Skystalker had gone to Lightstar for advice.</p><p>     He’d been surprised by how graciously the ancient LightClan leader had invited him into his den, and by how patiently Lightstar had listened to his stumbling attempts to explain his question without giving away his secret; Lightstar had never made any attempt to conceal what had always seemed to Skystalker to be a gruff disapproval of Skystalker’s very existence.</p><p>     But this morning, despite clearly having other things on his mind – even Skystalker’s Force-perceptions, far from the most subtle, had detected echoes of conflict and worry within the leader’s den – Lightstar had simply offered Skystalker a place on one of the patches of soft moss and suggested that they meditate together.</p><p>     He hadn’t even asked for details.</p><p>     Skystalker had been so grateful – and so relieved, and so unexpectedly hopeful – that he’d felt a kit-like wail bubble up in his throat, and a few deep breaths had been required for him to compose himself into proper LightClan serenity.</p><p>     After a time, Lightstar’s eyes had slowly opened and his lowered ears lowered even further.  “Premonitions … premonitions … deep questions they are.  Sense the future, once all LightClan cats could; now few alone have this skill.  Visions … gifts from the Force, and curses.  Signs and snares.  These visions of yours …”</p><p>     “They are of pain,” Skystalker had mewed.  He had barely been able to make himself add: “And death.”</p><p>     “In these troubled times, no surprise this is.  Yourself you see, or some cat you know?”</p><p>     Skystalker had barely managed to indicate the latter.</p><p>     “One close to you?” Lightstar had prompted gently.</p><p>     “Yes,” Skystalker had replied, eyes turned away from Lightstar’s too-wise stare.  Let him think he was discussing Sunlight or Goldpelt.  It was close enough.</p><p>     Lightstar’s voice was gentle, and understanding.  “The fear of loss is a path to the dark side, young one.”</p><p>     “I know, Lightstar.”</p><p>     “Rejoice for those who pass through the Force into StarClan.  Mourn them not.  Miss them not.”</p><p>     “How do I tell the difference between what the Force wishes me to see and what my fears have created?”</p><p>     “Difficult to tell apart those things may be,” Lightstar had replied. “What you fear to lose, train yourself to release.  Let go of fear, and loss cannot harm you.  And see between the Force and your fear, you may.”</p><p>     Which was when Skystalker breathed a little easier.  Perhaps Berryheart was right and the nightmare was just an extension of his fear.  At the least, Lightstar’s advice may help him gain control of it before he did something truly reckless.</p><p>     So after a few heartbeats more, he managed to respectfully extricate himself.</p><p>     And then he went to find Sunlight.</p><p>     He greeted his friend warmly before passing along Rosefur’s reassurances.</p><p>     Sunlight heaved a sigh.  “I am glad to hear she doesn’t blame me for it.  I miss Redspot, too.  And how is our newest Clanmate?  I’m sure you’ve already stopped to see him.”</p><p>     “Frogkit?”  Skystalker’s eyes lit up.  “Energetic.  It was quite the struggle to leave him with the others.  He’d have probably followed me out here if any cat let him.”</p><p>     They both purred in amusement, a much-needed moment of levity.</p><p>     “Is Foxstar here?” Skystalker asked.  He looked back over at the den-guards.  “Has something happened?”</p><p>     “Quite the opposite,” Sunlight mewed. “Those den-guards did not escort Foxstar.  They are waiting to bring <em>you</em> to <em>him</em>.”</p><p>     “Waiting?  For me?”  Skystalker blinked.  Worries and lack of sleep had his head full of fog; he couldn’t make this make sense.  He twisted to look vacantly at his Force-Crystal.  “But – my Force-Crystal has been silent.  If the Council wanted me, why didn’t they –”</p><p>     “The Council,” Sunlight mewed, “has not been consulted.”</p><p>     “I don’t understand.”</p><p>     “Nor do I.”  Sunlight stepped close, pointing with his tail back toward the den-guards.  “They simply arrived, some time ago.  When the warriors on guard-duty questioned them, they said Foxstar has requested your presence.”</p><p>     “Why wouldn’t he go through the Council?”</p><p>     “Perhaps he has some reason to believe,” Sunlight answered carefully, “that the Council might have resisted sending you.  Perhaps he did not wish to reveal his reason for this summons.  Communication between the Council and Foxstar is … stressed.”</p><p>     A queasy feeling began to form behind Skystalker’s ribs.  “Sunlight, what’s going on?  Something’s wrong, isn’t it?  You know something, I can tell.”</p><p>     “Know?  No: only suspect.  Which is not at all the same thing.”</p><p>     Skystalker remembered what he’d told Berryheart about exactly that the first night he’d had the nightmare.  Although he sensed that his secret was still safe, the queasy feeling persisted.  “And?”</p><p>     “And that’s why I’m out here, Skystalker.  So I can talk to you.  Privately.  <em>Not</em> as a council-cat – in fact, if the Council were to find out about this conversation … well, let’s say, I’d rather they didn’t.”</p><p>     “<em>What</em> conversation?  I still don’t know what’s going on!”</p><p>     “None of us does.  Not really.”  Sunlight drew a bit closer and looked Skystalker directly in the eye.  “Skystalker, you know I am your friend.”</p><p>     “Yes …”</p><p>     “And <em>as</em> your friend I am asking you: be wary of Foxstar.”</p><p>     Skystalker stiffened.  “What do you mean?”</p><p>     “I know he’s gone out of his way to try and make you <em>his</em> friend.  I am concerned that he may not be yours.  Be careful of him, Skystalker.  And be careful of your own feelings.”</p><p>     “Careful, or mindful?”</p><p>     Sunlight looked grim.  “Careful.  The Force grows ever darker around us, and we are all affected by it, even as we affect it.  This is a dangerous time to be a LightClan cat.  Please, Skystalker – please be <em>careful</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>     The brief journey to Foxstar’s den was quietly tense.  Skystalker had tried making conversation with the two den-guards, but these two weren’t entirely chatty.</p><p>     Skystalker’s discomfort only increased when he arrived.  He had been here so often that he didn’t even really see the moss-piles or raised stones or even the old Twoleg-things, most times, but today –</p><p>     Today, with Sunlight’s voice hissing <em>be wary of Foxstar</em> in the back of his mind, everything looked different.  New.  And not in a good way.</p><p>     He saw Foxstar gazing out of one of the openings, sitting quietly with his tail around his paws.</p><p>     “Skystalker.”  He hadn’t moved, not even to look at his guest.  “Join me.”</p><p>     Skystalker came up beside him and looked out as well.  He saw the cats far below, going about their usual routines.  But even in the apparent normalcy, he could see the tension and wariness in each cat as they passed by.  The sorrow and fear that he could feel in the Force.</p><p>     “Do you see, Skystalker?”  Foxstar’s voice was soft, hoarse with emotion.  “Do you see what they have done to our Tribe?  This war <em>must</em> end.  We cannot allow such … such …”</p><p>     His voice trailed away, and his head and ears lowered.  Gently, Skystalker touched his tail to the older tom’s shoulder.  “You know you have the best efforts of LightClan,” he mewed.</p><p>     Foxstar sighed.  “I know I have yours, Skystalker.  The rest of LightClan …”  He looked even more exhausted than he had the last time Skystalker had seen him.  Perhaps he had passed a couple of sleepless nights as well.</p><p>     “I have asked you here,” he mewed slowly, “because I need your help on a matter of extreme delicacy.  I hope I can depend on your discretion, Skystalker.”</p><p>     Skystalker went still for a moment, then he very slowly shifted away from Foxstar.</p><p>
  <em>     Be wary of Foxstar</em>
</p><p>     “As a LightClan warrior, there are … limits … to my discretion, Foxstar.”</p><p>     “Oh, of course.  Don’t worry, my friend.”  A flash of familiar fatherly warmth forced its way into his eyes.  “Skystalker, in all the moons we have been friends, have I ever asked you to do anything even the slightest bit against your conscience?”</p><p>     “Well –”</p><p>     “And I never will.  I am very proud of your accomplishments as a warrior, Skystalker.  You have won many battles the LightClan Council insisted to me were already lost – and you saved my <em>life</em>.  It’s quite appalling that they still keep you off the Council yourself.”</p><p>     “My time will come … when I am older.  And, I suppose, wiser.”  He didn’t want to get into this with Foxstar.  He certainly didn’t want to accidently blurt out his true intentions to a cat he was feeling more and more uneasy around.</p><p>     “Nonsense.  Age is no measure of wisdom.  They keep you off the Council because it is the last hold they have on you, Skystalker; it is how they control you.  Once you’re a sage and a council-cat after, as you deserve, how will they make you do their bidding?”</p><p>     “Well …”  Skystalker managed a half-hearted purr.  “They can’t exactly <em>make</em> me, even now.”</p><p>     “I know, my friend, I know.  That is precisely the point.  You are not like them.  You are younger.  Stronger.  <em>Better</em>.  If they cannot control you now, what will happen once you are a sage in your own right?  How will they keep your paws on the line they’ve drawn for you?  You may become more powerful than all of them together.  That is why they keep you down.  They fear your power.  They fear <em>you</em>.”</p><p>     Skystalker looked away.  He didn’t know how to best respond to that, so he stayed silent, and waited.</p><p>     “I have asked you here today, Skystalker, because I have fears of my own.”  He turned, waiting, until Skystalker met his eye, and on Foxstar’s face was something approaching bleak despair.  “I am coming to fear LightClan itself.”</p><p>     “But, Foxstar –” Skystalker blinked in disbelief.  “There is no Clan more loyal than LightClan – surely, after all this time –”</p><p>     But Foxstar had already turned away.  He lowered himself onto the largest moss-covered stone and kept his head down as though he was ashamed to say this directly to Skystalker’s face.  “The LightClan Council keeps pushing for more control.  More self-rule.  They have lost all respect for the rule of law.  They have become more concerned with avoiding the oversight of the Tribe than with winning the war.”</p><p>     “With respect, Foxstar, I’ve overheard some say the same of <em>you</em>.”  He thought of Sunlight, and he had to stop himself from wincing.  Had he betrayed a confidence just now?</p><p>     “Oh I have no doubt of it,” Foxstar stated. “Many of the cats on your Clan’s Council would prefer I step down altogether – because they know I’m on to them, now.  They’re shrouded in secrecy, obsessed with covert action against mysteriously faceless enemies –”</p><p>     “Well, DarkClan is hardly faceless, isn’t it?  I mean, Darkbird himself –”</p><p>     “Was he truly a DarkClan warrior?  Or was he just another in your line of fallen LightClan warriors, using a red Force-Crystal to intimidate you?”</p><p>     Skystalker’s ears slid back a bit.  “But <em>Darkshadow</em> …”</p><p>     “Ah, yes, the mysterious Darkshadow.  ‘The <em>DarkClan infiltrator</em> in the <em>highest</em> ranks of <em>the Tribe</em>.’  Doesn’t that sound a little overly familiar to you, Skystalker?  A little overly <em>convenient</em>?  How do you know this Darkshadow even exists?  How do you know he is not a <em>story</em>, a story created by the LightClan Council, to give them an excuse to harass those who make rules they dislike?”</p><p>     “LightClan doesn’t involve itself with rule-making –”</p><p>     “In a collaborative union of Clans, <em>everything</em> revolves around rule-making, Skystalker.  And every cat.”</p><p>     Skystalker just stared.  <em>What was he trying to get at?</em></p><p>     “It is because of that reason that I’m no longer sure the LightClan Council will stop at anything to get their way, Skystalker.  That’s actually the reason I asked you here.”  He leaned forward intently.  “You may have heard that at sunhigh, the Great Gathering will call upon the Tribe of Gathering leadership to assume direct control of the LightClan Council.”</p><p>     Skystalker blinked.  “LightClan will no longer report to the Great Gathering?”</p><p>     “It will report to me.  Personally.  The mediators are too unfocused to direct this war; we’ve seen this for moons.  Now that the Tribe leadership will be the single authority to direct the war, we’ll bring a quick end to things.”</p><p>     Skystalker chose his answer carefully.  “I can see how that could help, Foxstar, but the Council probably won’t.  I can tell you that they are in no mood for further procedural changes.”</p><p>     “Yes, thank you, my friend.  But in this case, I have no choice.  This war must be won.”</p><p>     “Every cat agrees with that.”</p><p>     “I hope they do, my friend.  I hope they do.”</p><p>     Inside his head, he heard the echo of Sunlight, murmuring <em>communication between the Council and Foxstar is … stressed.</em>  What had been going on, here in the Gathering Place?</p><p>     Weren’t they all on the same side?</p><p>     “What, exactly, do you mean?”</p><p>     Foxstar straightened a bit.  “The Council’s actions will speak more loudly than their words – as long as someone keeps an eye on them.  And that, my friend, is exactly the favor I must ask of you.”</p><p>     “I don’t understand.”</p><p>     “Skystalker, I am asking you – as a personal favor to me, in respect for our long friendship – to accept a post as my personal representative on the LightClan Council.”</p><p>     Skystalker blinked.</p><p>     He blinked again.</p><p>     He meowed, “Me?”</p><p>     “Who else?”  Foxstar tilted his head and a melancholy look crossed his face.  “You are the only LightClan cat I know, truly <em>know</em>, that I can trust.  I <em>need</em> you, my friend.  There is no other cat who can do this task: to be the eyes and ears – and the voice – of the Tribe of Gathering on the LightClan Council.”</p><p>     Skystalker couldn’t believe his ears.  He wondered for a heartbeat if he’d heard wrong, then he wondered if Foxstar had gotten bees in his brain.  Council-cats were chosen from among the sages, not the warriors.  Because council-cats could potentially be named deputy, and then leader afterward.</p><p>     And if he was named a sage and a council-cat, it would be much harder for him to leave the Clan as he planned…</p><p>     He shook himself back to the present.  “I … am overwhelmed, Foxstar.  But the Council chooses its own members.  They will never accept this.”</p><p>     “I promise you they will,” Foxstar murmured calmly.  He turned back to look out toward the LightClan camp.  “They need you more than they realize.  All it will take is for someone to properly …”</p><p>     He flicked an ear expressively.</p><p>     “… <em>explain</em> it to them.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was late because it ended up longer than expected.  I hope you enjoyed.  Don't forget to leave kudos and especially comments, they're really helpful to me.</p><p>Bonus: Did you find all of the hidden Easter egg name-drops?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Power Maneuvers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>These chapters are getting longer and the tension is getting higher....</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     The sun rose quietly over the treetops, shining out over the stone ruins of the Gathering Place; birds sung from the branches and prey scampered about in sharp contrast to the battle that had taken place four sunrises earlier; chill remnants of night slid down the tall section of ruin that contained the LightClan Council Chamber; and within the secluded chamber itself, Sunlight was still trying to talk them out of it.</p><p>     “Yes, of course I trust him,” he mewed patiently. “We can always trust Skystalker to do what he thinks is right.  But we <em>can’t</em> trust him to do what he’s <em>told</em>.  He can’t be made to simply <em>obey</em>.  Believe me: I’ve been trying for many moons.”</p><p>     Conflicting currents of energy swirled and clashed in the Council Chamber.  Traditionally, decisions of the Council were reached by quiet, mutual contemplation of the flow of the Force, until all the Council was of a single mind on the matter.  But Sunlight knew of this tradition only by reputation, from tales told by sages who had been council-cats before DarkClan’s return.  In the all-too-short moons since Sunlight’s own advancement, argument in this Chamber was more the rule than the exception.</p><p>     “An unintentional opportunity, Foxstar has given us,” Lightstar mewed gravely. “An opening he has made into the workings of his position.  Mouse-brains we would be, to close our eyes.”</p><p>     “Then we should use some other cat’s eyes,” Sunlight insisted. “Forgive me, Lightstar, but you just don’t know him the way I do.  None of you does.  He is <em>fiercely</em> loyal, and there is not a whisker of deception in him.  You’ve all seen it; it’s one of the arguments that some of you, here in this chamber, have used against making him a sage: <em>he lacks true LightClan reserve</em>, that’s what you’ve said.  And by that we all mean that he wears his emotions like a collar on a kittypet.  How can you ask him to lie to a cat he respects – to <em>spy</em> upon him?”</p><p>     “That is why we must call upon another he respects to ask him,” mewed Brownlight in his usual gentle baritone.</p><p>     “You don’t understand.  Don’t make him choose between his respect for me and his respect for Foxstar –”</p><p>     “Why not?” asked Raccoonlight, his glowing image flickering atop a small Starstone fragment via a Force-connection with DryClan’s Starstone. “Do you fear you would lose such a contest?”</p><p>     “You don’t know how much the concept of mutual respect means to him.  You’re asking him to use Foxstar’s respect and offer of friendship as a weapon!  To claw him from behind.  Don’t you understand what this will cost him, even if Foxstar is entirely innocent?  <em>Especially</em> if he’s innocent.  Their relationship will never be the same –”</p><p>     “And that,” Violetlight mewed, “may be the best argument in favor of the plan.  I have told you all what I have seen of the energy between Skystalker and Foxstar.  Anything might distance young Skystalker from Foxstar’s influence is worth the attempt.”</p><p>     Sunlight didn’t need to reach into the Force to know that he would lose this argument.  He inclined his head.  “I will, of course, abide by the ruling of this Council.”</p><p>     “Doubt of that, none of us has.”  Lightstar turned his green gaze on the rest of the Council.  “But if to be done this is, decide we must how best to use him.”</p><p>     The Starstone-image of Palelight flickered a bit as the white tom leaned forward.  “I, too, have reservations on this matter, but it seems that in these desperate times, only desperate plans have hope of success.  We have seen that young Skystalker has the power to battle a DarkClan warrior alone, if need be; he has proven that with Darkbird.  If he is indeed the chosen one, we must keep him in play against DarkClan – keep him in a position to fulfill his destiny.”</p><p>     “And even if the prophecy has been misinterpreted,” Brownlight added, “Skystalker is the one warrior we can best hope would survive an encounter with a DarkClan cat.  So let us also use him to help us set our trap.  In Council, let us emphasize that we are intensifying our search for Greyfuzz.  Skystalker will certainly report this to Foxstar.  Perhaps, as you say, that will draw Darkshadow into action.”</p><p>     “It may not be enough,” Violetlight mewed. “Let us take this one step further – we should appear shortpawed, and weak, giving Darkshadow an opening to make a move he thinks will go unobserved.  I’m thinking that perhaps we should let Foxstar know that Lightstar and I have both been forced to leave –”</p><p>     “Too risky that is,” Lightstar countered. “And too convenient.  One of us only should go.”</p><p>     “Then it should be you, Lightstar,” Brownlight suggested. “It is your sensitivity to the broader currents of the Force that DarkClan has the most reason to fear.”</p><p>     Sunlight felt the ripple of agreement flow through the chamber, and Lightstar dipped his head solemnly.  “The Tribe of Shadows attack on the Tribe of Windy Trees, a compelling excuse will make.  And good friends in that Tribe I have; defeat the attackers I can, and still be available to the Gathering Place, should Darkshadow take our bait.”</p><p>     “Agreed.”  Violetlight looked around the half-empty Council Chamber with narrowing eyes.  “And one last touch.  Let’s let Foxstar know, through Skystalker, that our most cunning and insightful sage – and our most tenacious – is to lead the hunt for Greyfuzz.”</p><p>     “So Darkshadow will need to act, and act fast, if the war is to be maintained,” Raccoonlight added approvingly.</p><p>     Lightstar dipped his head judiciously.  “Agreed.”  Brownlight assented as well, and Palelight, and the rest.</p><p>     “This sounds like a good plan,” Sunlight mewed. “But what sage do you have in mind?”</p><p>     For a moment no cat uttered a thing, as though astonished he would ask such a question.</p><p>     Only after a few heartbeats in which Sunlight looked from the faces of one council-cat to the next, puzzled by the expressions of gentle amusement each and every one of them wore, did it finally occur to the light brown tom that all of them were looking at <em>him</em>.</p><p> </p><p>     Balefur stopped cold in the middle of the long, high tunnel just outside of the Great Gathering Chamber.  The torrent of cats that streamed along the curving tunnel broke around him like a river around a boulder.  He listened in disbelief to the den-guard just outside the chamber-entrance ahead; some of them had been recently assigned to make announcements to keep all of the mediators up to the moment on news of the war, and on Foxstar’s latest orders.</p><p>     His heart tripped, and he couldn’t seem to make himself focus.  He pushed his way through the tunnel to where another den-guard was making announcements.  When he strained his ears to listen, he still made the same announcement.</p><p>     He’d been expecting this day.  Since the previous sunrise, when the Great Gathering had cast stones to give Foxstar full control of LightClan, he’d known it would come soon.  He’d even started planning for it.</p><p>     But that didn’t make it any easier to bear.</p><p>     He stumbled outside and rushed down the path toward the other side of the Gathering Place, barely pausing to wave a signal to one cat in particular as he ran past.  Only once he had darted around a corner and behind a large pile of stones out of sight of any other cats did he stop to catch his breath.</p><p>     A slender cream and white she-cat, with short, sleek fur and a clear, steadily intelligent gaze from her green eyes, cautiously slipped into his hiding place.  “Balefur,” she mewed. “What’s happened?”</p><p>     Balefur’s ears tilted back against his head.  “Have you heard this morning’s announcement?”</p><p>     “Yes, I have –”</p><p>     “It’s time, Mothripple,” he mewed grimly. “It’s time to stop talking, and start <em>doing</em>.  We have to bring in other mediators.”</p><p>     “I agree, but we must tread carefully.  Have you thought about whom we should consult?  Whom we can trust?”</p><p>     “Not in detail.  Soilstripe springs to mind.  I’m sure we can trust Fangfur, too.”</p><p>     “Agreed.  What about Blackfrost?  Her heart is in the right place.  Or Mousepool?”</p><p>     Balefur flicked his tail doubtfully.  “Maybe later.  It’ll take a bit of time to figure out exactly where they stand.  We need to start with mediators we <em>know</em> we can trust.”</p><p>     “All right.  Then Tantail would be my next choice.  And, I think, Berryheart and Goldpelt of ForestClan.”</p><p>     “Goldpelt used to be a loner, so he might have new insights.  Berryheart?”  Balefur tilted his head.  “I’m not sure.”</p><p>     “You know her better than I do, Balefur, but to my mind she is exactly the type of mediator we need.  She is intelligent, principled, extremely articulate, and she has the heart of a warrior.”</p><p>     “She is also a former Clanmate of Foxstar,” he reminded her. “He was also the ForestClan mediator when she was ForestClan’s leader.  How can you be sure that she will stand with us, and not with him?”</p><p>     Mothripple replied serenely, “There’s only one way to find out.”</p><p> </p><p>     By the time he was finally admitted into the LightClan Council Chamber, Skystalker was growing nervous.</p><p>     He was sure that there no reason for it, after all the Council had done things the same way since LightClan was formed … but they had left him outside for so <em>long</em>, with nothing to do but think of the impossible; that they might <em>actually</em> be considering caving to Foxstar.  But surely they wouldn’t?  They hadn’t yet.</p><p>     Skystalker padded into the Council Chamber, head lowered in humility and respect.  Swallowing the hope that insisted on beating in his chest.</p><p>     Hope that he was worrying in vain.</p><p>     He moved slowly into the center of the circle of sages, and turned toward his leader and deputy.</p><p>     Lightstar was unreadable as always, his stance showing no more than serene contemplation.</p><p>     Violetlight could have been made of stone.</p><p>     Glowing images of Palelight and Raccoonlight sat atop the Starstone fragments atop their usual stones.  Brownlight sat alone, between the empty stones belonging to Maplelight and Alderlight.</p><p>     Sunlight sat on the stone that once had belonged to Frostlight, looking pensive.  Even worried.</p><p>     “Skystalker.”  Violetlight’s tone was so severe that the hope inside Skystalker faltered.  “The Council has decided to comply with Foxstar’s request, and with the instructions of the Great Gathering that give him the unprecedented authority to command this Council.  You are hereby granted a place on the High Council of LightClan, as Foxstar’s personal representative.”</p><p>     Skystalker stood very still for a long moment, until he could be absolutely sure he had heard what he thought he’d heard.</p><p>     Finally, as it began to sink in upon him, as he gradually allowed himself to understand that this Council, the same one that had coldly dismissed his apprentice because of false accusations, had actually complied with a request by a cat they vocally disagreed with, a chill pierced his spine and resignation filled him.  Mentally shaking himself, he took a slow, deep breath.</p><p>     “Honored sages of the Council, you have my pledge that I will uphold the highest principles of LightClan for as long as I hold this post.”</p><p>     “Allow this appointment lightly, the Council does not.”  Lightstar’s eyes narrowed.  “Disturbing is this move by Foxstar.  On many levels.”</p><p>     Skystalker inclined his head.  “I understand.”</p><p>     “I’m not sure you do.”  Violetlight leaned forward, staring into Skystalker’s eyes with a measuring squint.</p><p>     Skystalker met his gaze with confusion.  What was the deputy getting at?  Hope started to nudge at him again.</p><p>     “You will attend the meetings of this Council,” the dark brown tom meowed, “but you will not be granted the rank and privileges of a LightClan sage.”</p><p>     “What?”</p><p>     Now he was completely baffled.  On the Council but not as a sage?  That tiny bit of hope grew a bit larger.</p><p>     “How can a cat be <em>on</em> the Council without being a sage?”</p><p>     Skystalker looked from one face to the next, seeking the answer to his question, hoping that they saw his question for the confusion it was rather than as impertinence.</p><p>     “Foxstar’s representative you are,” Lightstar mewed. “And it is as his representative you shall attend the Council.  Sit in this chamber you will, but no vote will you have.  <em>Foxstar’s</em> views you shall present.  <em>His</em> wishes.  <em>His</em> ideas and orders.  Not your own.”</p><p>     Oh.</p><p>
  <em>     Oh.</em>
</p><p>     Up from the depths of his heart came hope and relief in equal measure.  <em>Temporary</em>.  His post would likely last only until the war was over.  Skystalker found himself fighting to keep upright.</p><p>     Violetlight seemed to recognize the moment the thought crossed his mind because his eyes and voice softened a bit.  “Take your seat, young Skystalker.”</p><p>     He dipped his head respectfully to the older tom, then turned toward Sunlight.</p><p>     “Skystalker,” Sunlight mewed softly.  He gestured to an unclaimed stone beside him.  “Here.”</p><p>     The rest of the session passed quickly; Palelight reported that none of their patrols had found any sign of Greyfuzz, and Skywalker felt a dull shock when the Council assigned the task of coordinating the search to Sunlight <em>alone</em>.</p><p>     While it did make sense in a way, Sunlight <em>was</em> one of the greatest sages LightClan had ever seen, the warrior still felt a hint of sadness at the idea of splitting them up.</p><p>     The last point of discussion was a report about the Tribe of Shadows attempting to claim territory from the Tribe of Windy Trees.  Skystalker listened intently to this.  He’d gone past their territory a few times before as an apprentice, even conversed with a few of their to-bes, and he was more than curious to hear who they would send.  He nearly volunteered to go only to remind himself firmly of Lightstar’s earlier statement: he was Foxstar’s representative <em>only</em>, and as such unlikely to be sent on any assignments for the rest of the war.  Besides, Berryheart needed him <em>here</em>, not out battling somewhere.</p><p>     Then Lightstar volunteered, and Skystalker was so surprised he barely noticed the lack of discussion about it.</p><p>     “It is settled then,” Violetlight mewed. “May the Force be with us all.”</p><p>     And as the images of Raccoonlight and Palelight disappeared, as Sunlight and Brownlight rose and murmured together in tones softly grave, as Lightstar and Violetlight padded from the chamber, Skystalker could only sit in silence trying to calm his racing thoughts.</p><p><em>     It’s only temporary,</em> he reminded himself again. <em>Once Greyfuzz is found and the war is over, I can step down and I can leave with Berryheart and Goldpelt and my kits.</em></p><p>     He was determined to let nothing stop him from leaving LightClan peaceably and respectfully.</p><p>     Nothing at all.</p><p> </p><p>     In Balefur’s assigned den, a different kind of worried tension was rising.</p><p>     “I’m no happier than the rest of you about this,” Berryheart mewed, waving her tail emphatically. “But I’ve known Foxstar for moons; he was my most trusted advisor and my unofficial mediator mentor.  I’m not prepared to believe his intent is to dismantle the Great Gathering.”</p><p>     “Why should he bother?” Mothripple countered. “As a practical matter – as of sunup – the Great Gathering no longer exists.”</p><p>     Berryheart looked from one grim face to another.  Soilstripe bobbed his head in agreement.  Tantail kept her eyes down, pretending to be grooming her tail.  Fangfur ran a paw over his greying face.</p><p>     Balefur leaned forward.  His eyes were hard as chips of stone.  “Foxstar no longer has to worry about controlling the Great Gathering.  By placing cats loyal only to him in high-ranking positions in every Clan within the Tribe of Gathering, he controls our Clans <em>directly</em>.”  He unsheathed his claws and dug them into the floor until he feared they might crack.  “He’s become a dictator.  We <em>made</em> him a dictator.”</p><p>     Berryheart turned to Goldpelt but the young tom looked just as lost as she felt.</p><p>     “But what can we <em>do</em> about it?” Tantail asked, still gazing down at her tail with a worried expression.</p><p>     “That’s what we asked you here to discuss,” Mothripple told her calmly. “What we’re going to do about it.”</p><p>     Fangfur shifted uncomfortably.  “I’m not sure I like where this is going.”</p><p>     “None of us likes where <em>anything</em> is going,” Balefur growled, half rising. “That’s exactly the point.  We can’t let a thousand seasons of unity disappear without a fight!”</p><p>     “A <em>fight</em>?” Goldpelt echoed in alarm.</p><p>     Berryheart was just as alarmed.  “I can’t believe what I’m hearing – Balefur, you sound like a Tribe of Shadows cat!”</p><p>     “I –” Balefur sank back down.  “I apologize.  That was not my intent.  I asked you all here because of all the mediators in the Great Gathering, you five have been the most consistent – and <em>influential</em> – voices of reason and restraint, doing all you could to preserve our poor, tattered code.  We don’t want to hurt the Tribe of Gathering.  With your help, we hope to <em>save</em> it.”</p><p>     “It has become increasingly clear,” Mothripple mewed, “that Foxstar has become an enemy of unity and freedom.  He must be stopped.”</p><p>     “The mediators of the Great Gathering gave him this authority,” Berryheart asserted. “The Great Gathering can relieve him of it.”</p><p>     Soilstripe leaned forward.  “I fear you underestimate just how deeply the corruption has taken hold of the Great Gathering.  Who will speak against Foxstar now?”</p><p>     “<em>I</em> will,” Goldpelt meowed firmly.</p><p>     Berryheart met his eyes and saw the determination in them.  “<em>We</em> will,” she agreed. “And we’ll find others, too.”</p><p>     They’d have to.  To help Skystalker do what he felt he needed to.</p><p>     “You do that,” Balefur mewed. “Make as much noise as you can – keep Foxstar watching what you’re doing in the Great Gathering.  That should provide some cover while Mothripple and I begin to gather –”</p><p>     “Stop.”  Berryheart rose.  “It’s better to leave some things unsaid.  Right now, it’s better Goldpelt and I don’t know anything about … anything.”</p><p><em>     Don’t make me put my mate in a bad position</em> was her silent plea.  She tried to convey it with her eyes.  <em>Please, Balefur.  Don’t make me do that.  It’ll make things so much harder for him.</em></p><p>     Perhaps he saw something there; after a heartbeat of indecision, he dipped his head in agreement.  “Very well.  Other matters can be left for other times.  Until then, this meeting must remain absolutely secret.  Even hinting at an effective opposition to Foxstar can be, as we’ve all seen, very dangerous.  We must agree never to speak of these matters except among those who are now in this chamber.  We must bring no one into this secret without the agreement of each and every one of us.”</p><p>     “That includes even those closest to you,” Mothripple added. “Even your families – to share anything of this will expose them to the same danger we all face.  No one can be told.  <em>No one</em>.”</p><p>     Berryheart watched them all agree, and met Goldpelt’s reluctant gaze, looking to her for what to do.  But what could she do?  <em>You can keep your secrets, but I’ll have to tell my LightClan mate, who is my former apprentice’s beloved older brother …</em></p><p>     She sighed.  “Yes.  Yes: we agree.”</p><p>     And all she could think as the little group dispersed was <em>Oh, Skystalker – Skystalker, I’m sorry …</em></p><p>
  <em>     I’m so sorry.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker was glad the vast tunnel was deserted save for him and Sunlight; he could converse freely.</p><p>     “This is almost bee-brained.  Why would they let Foxstar have his way?”</p><p>     “How could they not?” Sunlight countered. “I did warn you of the … tension … between the Council and Foxstar.  I was very clear.”</p><p>     “I know.  I just …”  He sighed.  “I just feel like a moss-ball tossed about by a pair of kits.”</p><p>     Sunlight winced as if he’d been stung.  “Skystalker, look, I’m on your side,” Sunlight mewed softly.  He looked tired.  “I never wanted to see you put in this situation.”</p><p>     “What situation?  I don’t –” Skystalker froze, then let out a long, heavy breath.  “They want something from me, don’t they?  That’s what this is really about.  That’s what it’s been about from the beginning.  That’s why they caved to Foxstar.”  Suddenly he felt tired, too.  So incredibly tired.  It hurt to keep the conversation up.  It hurt even to stand here.  He was sick of the whole business.  Why couldn’t it just be <em>over</em>?  “Tell me what they want.”</p><p>     Sunlight’s eyes shifted, and the sick fatigue in Skystalker’s stomach twisted further.  How bad did it have to be to make Sunlight unable to look him in the eye?</p><p>     Skystalker mewed, “Look, whatever it is, it’s not getting any better while you’re standing here working up the nerve to tell me.  Come on, Sunlight.  Let’s have it.”</p><p>     Sunlight glanced around the empty tunnel as if he wanted to make sure they were still alone; Skystalker had a feeling it was just an excuse to avoid facing him.</p><p>     “The Council,” Sunlight mewed slowly, “approved your appointment because Foxstar trusts you.  They want you to report on all his dealings.  They have to know what he’s up to.”</p><p>     “They want me to <em>spy</em> on the <em>leader of the Tribe of Gathering</em>?”  Skystalker blinked numbly.  No wonder Sunlight couldn’t look him in the face.  “Sunlight, isn’t that <em>treason</em>?”</p><p>     “We are at war, Skystalker.”  Sunlight looked thoroughly miserable.  “The Council is sworn to uphold the principles of the Tribe of Gathering through any means necessary.  We <em>have</em> to.  Especially when the greatest enemy of those principles seems to be the Tribe’s own leader!”</p><p>     Skystalker stared blankly.  “Why didn’t the Council give me this assignment during the meeting?”</p><p>     “Because it’s not for the record, Skystalker.  You must be able to understand why.”</p><p>     He did.  But he didn’t like it.  “So you want me to … what?  Throw his supposed trust in his face?  Confront him?  Or am I missing something here?”</p><p>
  <em>     He’s been a good friend, advisor, and mentor to my mate, Sunlight.  Please don’t make me lie to her.  It would break her heart.</em>
</p><p>     “We’re not asking you to act against Foxstar.  We’re only asking you to … monitor his activities.  You must believe me.”</p><p>     “I <em>want</em> to.  You’re like <em>family</em> to me.”</p><p>     “<em>LightClan</em> is your family –”</p><p>     “No.”  Skystalker faced his former mentor directly.  “No, LightClan is <em>your</em> family.  The only one you’ve ever known.  I’m not <em>like</em> you – I had a <em>mother</em> who loved me.  I have a <em>brother</em> in ForestClan who loves me as <em>I</em> do <em>him</em> –”</p><p><em>     And a mate who loves me,</em> he thought. <em>And soon kits who will love me, too.  Just as I love all of them.</em></p><p>     “And I have <em>you</em>, who have been like a father and a friend to me.  I never had a <em>Clan</em>.  Not really.  You can’t tell me there aren’t cats here who don’t wish I’d left with Tawnypaw.”</p><p>     “I know, Skystalker,” Sunlight mewed softly.  Sadly.  “I know.”</p><p>     Sunlight stepped closer and rested his tail on Skystalker’s shoulder.  With a long, slowly indrawn breath, he seemed to reach some difficult decision.  “I am not supposed to be telling you this.  Please do not reveal we have had this conversation.  To <em>anyone</em>, do you understand?”</p><p>     Skystalker replied, “I can keep a secret.”</p><p>     “All right.”  Sunlight took another deep breath.  “Violetlight tracked Darkshadow to the main Tribe den before Greyfuzz’s attack – we think that he is one of the cats within Foxstar’s closest circle of advisors.  <em>That</em> is who we want you to spy on, do you understand?”</p><p>     Skystalker’s eyes narrowed as he thought this through.</p><p>     “If Foxstar is under the influence of DarkClan, he may be in the gravest danger.  The only way we can help him is to find Darkshadow, and to stop him.  What we are asking of you is <em>not</em> treason, Skystalker – it may be the only way to save the Tribe of Gathering!”</p><p>     “So all you’re really asking,” Skystalker mewed slowly, “is for me to help the Council find Darkshadow.”</p><p>     “Yes.”  Sunlight looked relieved, incredibly relieved, as though some horrible constant pain had suddenly and inexplicably eased.  “Yes, that’s it exactly.”</p><p>     Deep within his mind and his cracking heart, Skystalker could only wail pitifully:  <em>I’m sorry, Berryheart.</em></p><p>
  <em>     I’m so sorry.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>     The three cats trotted solemnly to the edge of the Tribe of Gathering’s territory.</p><p>     Sunlight kept his eyes fixed ahead, unwilling to meet the eyes of Violetlight or Lightstar and choosing to focus instead on the patrol assigned to help the Tribe of Windy Trees.</p><p>     “You weren’t there,” he mewed. “You didn’t see his face.  I think we have done a terrible thing.”</p><p>     “We don’t always have the right answer,” Violetlight answered. “Sometimes there <em>isn’t</em> a right answer.”</p><p>     “Know how important your friendship with young Skystalker is to you, I do.”  Lightstar, too, kept his eyes on the patrol ahead; he paused to sit as though he was suddenly tired.  “Allow such attachments to pass out of one’s life, a LightClan cat must.”</p><p>     Another cat – even another LightClan cat – might have resented the rebuke, but Sunlight only sighed.  “I suppose – he <em>is</em> the chosen one, after all.  The prophecy says he was born to bring balance to the Force, but …”</p><p>     His voice trailed off.  He couldn’t remember what he’d been about to state.  All he could remember was the look on Skystalker’s face.</p><p>     “Yes.  Always in motion, the future is.”  Lightstar lifted his head and his eyes narrowed to thoughtful slits.  “And the prophecy, misinterpreted it could have been.”</p><p>     Violetlight looked even grimmer than usual.  “Since the fall of Darkbane more than a hundred thousand seasons ago, there have been thousands of LightClan warriors – each one feeding the light with each step of their paws, with each breath, with every beat of their hearts, bringing justice, building unity, radiating peace, acting out of selfless love for all living things – and in all these long seasons, there have only been two DarkClan cats at any time.  Only two.  LightClan creates light, but DarkClan does not create darkness.  Merely using the darkness that is always there.  That has always <em>been</em> there.  Greed and jealousy, aggression and fear – these are all natural to life.  The legacy of the wild.  Our inheritance from the dark.”</p><p>     “I’m sorry, Violetlight, but I’m not sure I follow you.  Are you saying – to follow your metaphor – that LightClan has cast too much light?  From what I’ve seen these past moons, the world has not become a brighter place.”</p><p>     “All I’m saying is we don’t <em>know</em>.  We don’t even truly understand what it <em>means</em> to <em>bring balance to the Force</em>.  We have no way of anticipating what this may involve.”</p><p>     “An infinite mystery is the Force,” Lightstar mewed softly. “The more we learn, the more we discover how much we do not know.”</p><p>     “So you both feel it, too,” Sunlight mewed.  The statement hurt him.  “You both can feel that we’ve turned some invisible corner.”</p><p>     “In motion, are the events of our time.  Approach, the crisis does.”</p><p>     “Yes.”  Violetlight dug furrows into the dirt under his claws.  “But we are in a deep tunnel without a hint of sunlight.  If we stop walking, we’ll never reach the light at the end.”</p><p>     “And what if the light just isn’t there?” Sunlight asked. “What if we get to the end of this tunnel and find only night?”</p><p>     “Faith we must have.  Trust in the will of the Force.  What other choice is there?”</p><p>     Sunlight accepted this with a dip of his head, but still when he thought of Skystalker, dread began to curl below his heart.  “I should have argued more strongly in the meeting today.”</p><p>     “You think Skystalker won’t be able to handle this?” Violetlight asked. “I thought you had more confidence in his abilities.”</p><p>     “I trust him with my life,” Sunlight mewed simply. “And that is precisely the problem.”</p><p>     The other two watched him silently while he tried to explain his mind clearly.</p><p>     “For Skystalker,” Sunlight mewed at length, “there is nothing more important than trust and friendship.  He is the most loyal cat I have ever met – loyal beyond reason, in fact.  Despite all I have tried to teach him about the sacrifices that are the heart of being a cat of LightClan, he – he will never, I think, truly understand.”</p><p>     He looked over at Lightstar.  “Lightstar, you and I have been close since I was a kit.  For as long as I can consciously remember.  Yet if ending the war a quarter-moon sooner – a <em>sunrise</em> sooner – were to require that I sacrifice your life, you know I would.”</p><p>     “As you should,” Lightstar replied. “As I would yours, young Sunlight.  As any LightClan cat would any other, in the cause of peace.”</p><p>     “Any LightClan cat,” Sunlight mewed, “except Skystalker.”</p><p>     Lightstar and Violetlight exchanged glances, both thoughtfully grim.  Sunlight guessed they were remembering the times Skystalker had violated orders – the times he had put at risk entire missions, the lives of many, the control of whole territories – to save a friend.</p><p>     More than once, in fact, to save Sunlight.</p><p>     “I think,” Sunlight mewed carefully, “that abstractions like <em>peace</em> don’t mean much to him.  He’s loyal to <em>individual cats</em>, not to principles.  And he expects loyalty in return.  He will stop at nothing to save me, for example, because he thinks I would do the same for him.”</p><p>     Violetlight and Lightstar gazed at him steadily, and Sunlight had to lower his head.</p><p>     “Because,” he admitted reluctantly, “he <em>knows</em> I would do the same for him.”</p><p>     “Understand exactly where your concern lies, I do not.”  Lightstar’s green eyes had gone softly sympathetic.  “<em>Named</em> must your fear be, before banish it you can.  Do you fear that perform this task, he cannot?”</p><p>     “Oh, no.  That’s not it at all.  I am firmly convinced that Skystalker can do anything.  Except betray a confidence.  What we have done to him today …”</p><p>     “But that is what a cat of LightClan <em>is</em>,” Violetlight mewed. “That is what we have pledged ourselves to: selfless service –”</p><p>     Sunlight turned to stare once more toward the patrol that would accompany Lightstar to the Great Fir Forest and the Tribe of Windy Trees, but he could see only Skystalker’s face.</p><p>     “Yes,” he replied slowly. “That’s why I don’t think he will ever trust us again.”</p><p>     He found himself swallowing a kit-like wail of grief.</p><p>     “And I’m not entirely sure he should.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Not From LightClan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Something unusual was happening in the darkening sky: a group of stars were falling from their places, leaving streaks of light trailing after them as they tumbled down.</p><p>     Skystalker watched with concern.</p><p>     From the ledge atop the old Twoleg-den where the ForestClan mediators stayed, he could hear Berryheart and Goldpelt converse quietly with Bluestripe as they entered.  As Goldpelt appeared to wander off to his nest, the LightClan warrior heard Berryheart dismiss Bluestripe and the other den-guards for the rest of the night, then start padding toward the ledge just below him.</p><p>     She stepped into view as he looked down, turning cautiously about before spotting him.  She climbed carefully up to join him.</p><p>     This was all he needed.  To be here, to be with her.</p><p>     If not for the war, he’d leave LightClan right now.  The Lost Twenty would be the Lost Twenty-One.  It wouldn’t matter to him.  He knew in the depths of his heart that <em>this</em> was his true home.  Next to his beloved mate.</p><p>     He mewed softly, “Quiet night, isn’t it?”</p><p>     She turned to look at him.  “It is.  I’m surprised you’re out here.  There’s still <em>sunlight</em> –”</p><p>     “I couldn’t wait, Berryheart.  I had to see you.”  He groomed the fur behind her ear.  “I’m not sure how late I’ll be, so I stopped by.  How are you feeling?”</p><p>     She leaned into him with a purr.  “I’m doing well so far, according to the medicine cats.”</p><p>     “Good.”</p><p>     “Are you sure you can’t come inside?”</p><p>     He touched his nose to the top of her head.  “No.  I’m supposed to be going to meet Foxstar.”</p><p>     “Oh, I heard about your appointment to the LightClan Council.  Skystalker, I’m so proud of you.”</p><p>     He lifted his head with a sigh.  She looked up with confusion.</p><p>     “There’s nothing to be proud of,” he mewed. “This is just the latest power maneuver between the Council and Foxstar.  I got caught in the middle, that’s all.”</p><p>     “But to be on the Council so young –”</p><p>     “They put me on the Council because they <em>had</em> to.  Because he told them to, once the Great Gathering gave him control of LightClan.”  His gaze drifted away from hers, unable to look her in the eye.  “And because they believe they can use me against him.”</p><p>     He waited for the inevitable protest from Berryheart but when he dared to look back her eyes had gone oddly remote, and thoughtful.  “<em>Against</em> him,” she echoed. “Your Clanmates don’t trust him?”</p><p>     “That doesn’t mean much.  Most of the older cats don’t trust <em>me</em>, either,” he was quick to add. “They gave me a place in the Council chamber, but that’s as far as it will go.  I likely won’t be named a sage before I leave.”</p><p>     Her gaze returned from that thoughtful distance, and she gave him a warm look.  “Don’t be too sure, my love.  They will recognize your ability.”</p><p>     “I think they’re already more than aware of my abilities.  Being granted the rank of sage involves <em>much</em> more than raw ability,” he mewed gently. “But this isn’t really about that.  Like I said: it’s a power game.”</p><p>     “Skystalker –”</p><p>     “I don’t know what’s happening to LightClan, but whatever it is, I don’t like it.”  He shook himself.  “This war is destroying everything the Tribe of Gathering is supposed to stand for.  I mean, what are we fighting for, anyway?  What about all this is worth saving?”</p><p>     Berryheart blinked sadly, her eyes drifting away.  “Sometimes I wonder if we’re on the wrong side.”</p><p>     “The wrong side?”  He stared at her.</p><p>     She looked up at the ominous streaks of starlight above.  “What if the freedom we’re fighting for no longer <em>exists</em>?  What if the Tribe of Gathering itself has become the very evil we’ve been fighting to destroy?”</p><p>     Skystalker blinked at her in surprise.  “I’ve been hearing other cats say as much when they think no one’s listening ever since the Battle of Stone Place.  I never thought I’d hear it from you, too.”</p><p>     “And you just said the same a few heartbeats ago.”</p><p>     “Since we’re being honest, where do <em>you</em> think the Tribe of Gathering would be without Foxstar?”</p><p>     “I don’t know,” she mewed. “But I’m not sure it would be worse than we are.”</p><p>     He sighed.  “The problem that I’m seeing more and more is that every cat complains about Foxstar having too much power, but none of them offer a better alternative.  More than that, the mediators in the Great Gathering are so busy arguing with each other about the war that it seems <em>reasonable</em> for them to just let one cat lead everything.”</p><p>     “All I know is that things are going wrong here.  The Tribe is heading in exactly the wrong direction.  And based on what you’ve been saying just now, you know it, too!”</p><p>     “Yes.  Unfortunately, I can see it, too.  I just – I’m tired of this, that’s all.  This heap of crowfood.  Sometimes I’d rather just be back out in the fight.  At least out there, I know who the enemies are.”</p><p>     “I’m becoming afraid,” she replied in a bitter undertone, “that I might know who the enemies are <em>here</em>, too.”</p><p>     His eyes narrowed.  “What do you mean?”</p><p>     “Skystalker, every cat knows now that Darkbird is dead.  This is the time we should be pursuing a <em>peaceful</em> resolution to the war – but instead the fighting is intensifying!  Foxstar trusts you, he might listen to you.  When you see him tonight, ask him, in the name of simple <em>decency</em>, to offer a truce –”</p><p>     He sat up.  “Wait!  He’s <em>your</em> Clanmate, or was at one time.  What about you?”</p><p>     She blinked.  “What?”</p><p>     “You’ve known him far longer than I have.  Why would he listen to <em>me</em> over <em>you</em>?”</p><p>     “He hasn’t listened to me for <em>moons</em>.  I just …”  She hung her head.  “Why does it have to be like this?  Why does there have to even be such a thing as war?  Why can’t we just … go <em>back</em>?  Even just to pretend.  Why can’t we just pretend we’re back at the lake in Green-Trees, just the two of us.  When there was no war.  No plotting.  Just us.  You and me, and love.  That’s all we need.  You and me, and love.”</p><p>     He moved his paw over hers.  “I know,” he mewed softly. “I’m sick of all of this, too.”</p><p>     She turned and met his gaze, her warm brown eyes full of gratitude.  It was then that he realized something.</p><p>     Something he’d seen in her eyes when he’d mentioned the Council and Foxstar.</p><p>     “You’re keeping a secret.”</p><p>     She went very still, and she did not answer.</p><p>     He licked the fur between her eyes.  “Don’t worry,” he reassured her. “I’m sure you’ll let me know if it’s necessary.”</p><p>     Berryheart relaxed.</p><p>     Skystalker rose reluctantly.  “I have to go,” he mewed. “Foxstar is waiting.”</p><p> </p><p>     Two silent den-guards flanked the entrance to Foxstar’s den.  Skystalker didn’t need to speak; as he approached, one of them meowed, “You are expected,” and let him through.</p><p>     At the far side of the den, Foxstar sat with the Tribe deputy, Loudear, and its medicine cat, Slyfoot, although Slyfoot’s apprentice was nowhere to be seen.  As Skystalker drew closer, he recognized the last two cats as Gooseheart and Smokekit, Foxstar’s mate and youngest son.</p><p>     As he considered whether or not he should attempt to play the spy the Council wanted him to be, the decision was made for him.</p><p>     “Skystalker!” Smokekit squeaked.  The tiny kit raced over to him and immediately tried jumping onto his back.</p><p>     Skystalker purred with amusement and crouched low enough for Smokekit to clamber up before approaching the others.  “Foxstar.  Sorry I’m late.”</p><p>     Foxstar turned toward him, and his eyes lit up.  “Yes, Skystalker!  Don’t worry.  Come in, my friend, come in.  That little one isn’t too heavy for you, is he?”</p><p>     “Of course not,” Skystalker mewed. “He’s no heavier than any other kit I’ve given badger-rides to.”</p><p>     Smokekit beamed.  “Skystalker gives the best badger-rides!  Right, father?”</p><p>     “I’ll take your word for it, Smokekit,” Foxstar replied. “Now, I’m sure your mother would like to get you back to the nursery so you can get some sleep.”</p><p>     “Do I have to?  I’m not even –” Smokekit interrupted himself with a large yawn. “– a little bit tired.”</p><p>     The grown cats all purred.  Skystalker dropped down and twisted his head so he could see the kit properly.  “You might not be, but I’m sure that your mother is.  And she needs a big brave cat to escort her safely back to her nest and stand guard.  Do you think you can do that, Smokekit?”</p><p>     The kit was quick to agree, and promptly bounded over to Gooseheart.  The pair left with Smokekit calling a final goodbye to Skystalker and Foxstar.</p><p>     After a couple of heartbeats, Foxstar turned back to Skystalker.  “Thank you for your report on the Council meeting earlier – it was most interesting indeed.  And now I have good news for you – the Tribe’s scouts have located Greyfuzz!”</p><p>     “That’s tremendous!”  Skystalker didn’t need to fake enthusiasm.  “He won’t escape us again.”</p><p>     “I’m going to direct the Council to give <em>you</em> this assignment, Skystalker.  Your gifts are wasted in the Gathering Place – you should be out in the fight.  You can attend Council meetings through the Force, or however it is the others can do so.”</p><p>     Skystalker’s ears tilted a bit.  “Thank you, Foxstar, but the Council coordinates the Clan’s assignments.”</p><p>     “Of course, of course.  Mustn’t step on any sage’s tails, must we?  They are so jealous of their precious privileges.  Still, I shall wonder at their collective wisdom if they choose some other cat.”</p><p>     “As I said in my report, they’ve already assigned Sunlight to find Greyfuzz.”  <em>And he’s <strong>more</strong> than capable for such a task.</em></p><p>     “To <em>find</em> him, yes.  But you are the best warrior to <em>apprehend</em> him – though of course the LightClan Council cannot always be trusted to do the right thing.”</p><p>     “No cat is truly perfect.  But I believe they do try, Foxstar.”</p><p>     “Do you still?  Come and sit down.”  Foxstar looked at the other two cats with him.  “Leave us.”</p><p>     They rose and withdrew.  Skystalker sat where Loudear had.</p><p>     Foxstar gazed distractedly down at the stone ground far below for a long moment, eyes narrowed as though there was so much he wanted to impart, he was unsure where to begin.  Finally he sighed heavily and leaned close to Skystalker.</p><p>     “Skystalker, I think you know by now that I cannot rely upon the LightClan Council.  That is why I put you on it.  If they have not yet tried to use you in their plot, they soon will.”</p><p>     Skystalker allowed himself to present only confusion.  “I’m not sure I understand.”</p><p>     “You must sense what I have come to suspect,” Foxstar mewed grimly. “The LightClan Council is after more than independence from the Great Gathering’s oversight; I believe they intend to control the Tribe of Gathering itself.”</p><p>     “Foxstar –”</p><p>     “I believe they are planning treason.  They hope to overthrow me, and replace me with some cat weak enough that their mind tricks can control his every thought.”</p><p>     “I can’t believe the Council –”</p><p>     “Skystalker, search your feelings.  You <em>do</em> know, don’t you?”</p><p>     Skystalker knew he needed to be careful.  “I know they don’t trust you …”</p><p>     “Or the Great Gathering.  Or the Tribe of Gathering.  Or the idea of majority choice, for that matter.  LightClan’s Council is not <em>selected</em> by the Clan’s lower-ranking members.  It selects its own members according to its own rules – a less generous cat than I might say <em>whim</em> – and gives them authority backed by power.  They rule LightClan as they hope to rule the Tribe of Gathering: by single authority.”</p><p>     Skystalker wasn’t sure how to reply, but if he wanted more information …</p><p>     “I admit …”  Skystalker looked down at his paws.  He let the memory of Tawnypaw’s stricken look and the brokenness in her voice as she walked away fill his mind.  “… my faith in them has been … shaken.”</p><p>     “How?  Have they approached you already?  Have they ordered you to do something dishonest?”  Foxstar fixed a gently wise look on the younger tom that was oddly reminiscent of Lightstar.  “They want you to spy on me, don’t they?”</p><p>     Skystalker blinked at the older tom.</p><p>     “It’s alright, Skystalker.  I have nothing to hide.”</p><p><em>     If only I could be so sure.</em>  “I – don’t know what to say …”</p><p>     “Do you remember,” Foxstar mewed, drawing away from Skystalker a bit, “as a young kit, when you first came here, I tried to teach you everything about mediation?”</p><p>     Skystalker purred faintly.  “I remember that I didn’t care for the lessons.”</p><p>     “For <em>any</em> lessons, as I recall.  But it’s a pity; you should have paid more attention.  To understand mediation is to understand the fundamental nature of thinking beings.  Right now, you should remember one of my first teachings: all those who gain power are afraid to lose it.”</p><p><em>     Including you?</em>  “LightClan cats use their power for <em>good</em>,” Skystalker mewed, a little too firmly.</p><p>     “Good is a point of view, Skystalker.  And the LightClan concept of <em>good</em> is not the only valid one.  Take your DarkClan cats, for example.  From my research, I have gathered that DarkClan believed in justice and security every bit as much as LightClan –”</p><p>     “LightClan believes in justice and <em>peace</em>.”</p><p>     “In these troubled times, is there a difference?” Foxstar asked mildly. “LightClan has not done a good job of bringing peace to all cats, you must agree.  Who’s to say DarkClan might not have done better?”</p><p>     “This is one of those arguments you probably shouldn’t bring up in front of the Council, if you know what I mean,” Skystalker replied with a disbelieving tone.</p><p>     “Oh, yes.  Because DarkClan would be a threat to LightClan’s <em>power</em>.  Lesson one.”</p><p>     Skystalker flicked his tail in disagreement.  “Because DarkClan is <em>evil</em>.”</p><p>     “From a LightClan cat’s point of view,” Foxstar allowed. “<em>Evil</em> is a label we all put on those who threaten us, isn’t it?  Yet DarkClan and LightClan are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power.”</p><p>     “A LightClan cat’s quest is for greater <em>understanding</em>,” Skystalker countered. “For greater knowledge of the Force –”</p><p>     “Which brings with it greater power, does it not?”</p><p>     “For some … perhaps.”  Skystalker’s ear twitched.  “I suppose I should know better than to argue with a trained mediator.”</p><p>     “We’re not arguing, Skystalker.  We’re just talking.”  Foxstar shifted his weight, settling in comfortably.  “Perhaps the real difference between LightClan and DarkClan lies only in their orientation; LightClan cats gain power through understanding, and DarkClan cats gain understanding through power.  This is the true reason DarkClan has always been more powerful than LightClan.  LightClan fears the dark side so much they cut themselves off from the most important aspect of life: passion.  Of any kind.  They don’t even allow themselves to love.”</p><p><em>     Except for me,</em> Skystalker thought. <em>But then, it won’t matter at all once the war is done.</em></p><p>     “DarkClan cats do not fear the dark side.  DarkClan cats <em>have</em> no fear.  They embrace the entirety of experience, from the heights of transcendent joy to the depths of hatred and despair.  We have these emotions for a reason, Skystalker.  That is why DarkClan is more powerful: they are not afraid to <em>feel</em>.”</p><p>     “DarkClan cats rely on passion for strength,” Skystalker mewed, “but when that passion runs dry, what’s left?”</p><p>     “Perhaps nothing.  Perhaps a great deal.  Perhaps it never runs dry at all.  Who can say?”</p><p>     “They think inward, only about themselves.”</p><p>     “And LightClan cats don’t?”</p><p>     “LightClan cats are selfless – we <em>erase</em> the self, to join with the flow of the Force.  We care only about <em>others</em> …”</p><p>     Foxstar again gave him that look of gentle wisdom.  “Or so you’ve been trained to believe.  I hear the voice of Sunlight in your answers, Skystalker.  What do you <em>really</em> think?”</p><p>     Skystalker could feel the ball of unease in his belly grow a bit more.  He cast his gaze away from Foxstar so he could think properly.</p><p>     “It is said that if one could ever entirely comprehend a single speck of sand – really, truly understand <em>everything</em> about it – one would, at the same time, entirely comprehend the world.  Who’s to say that a DarkClan cat, by looking inward, sees less than a LightClan cat does by looking out?”</p><p>     “LightClan – LightClan is <em>good</em>.  That’s the difference.  It doesn’t matter <em>who</em> sees <em>what</em>.”</p><p>     “What LightClan is,” Foxstar mewed gently, “is a group of very powerful cats you consider to be your comrades.  And you are loyal to your friends; I have known that for as long as I have known you, and I admire you for it.  But are your friends loyal to <em>you</em>?”</p><p>     Skystalker turned his narrowed eyes on the other.  “What do you mean?”</p><p>     “Would a true friend ask you to do something that’s wrong?”</p><p>     Skystalker struggled to keep his own growing suspicions in check.  <em>What did Foxstar know?  And how?</em></p><p>     “Have they asked you to break LightClan’s code?  To violate the <em>Tribe’s</em> code?  To betray a friendship?  To betray <em>your</em> <em>own</em> values?”</p><p>     “Foxstar –”</p><p>     “<em>Think</em>, Skystalker!  I have always tried to teach you to think – yes, yes, LightClan cats do not think, they <em>know</em>, but those stale answers aren’t good enough now, in these changing times.  Consider their motives.  Keep your mind clear of assumptions.  The fear of losing power is a weakness of both LightClan and DarkClan.”</p><p>     Skystalker shook his head in an attempt to clear it.  Too much was happening in too short a time, and too many things weren’t fitting together.</p><p>     Such as how Foxstar seemed to know so much about DarkClan despite claiming disbelief of its existence.</p><p>     “This puts me in mind of an old legend,” Foxstar murmured idly.  “Skystalker – are you familiar with <em>the Tragedy of Darkplague the Wise</em>?”</p><p>     Skystalker tilted his head.</p><p>     “Ah, I thought not.  It is not a story a LightClan cat would tell you.  It’s a DarkClan legend, of a warrior who had turned his sight inward so deeply that he had come to comprehend, and master, life itself.  And – because the two are one, when seen clearly enough – death itself.”</p><p>     Skystalker blinked.  Was he actually hearing this?</p><p>     “According to the legend,” Foxstar continued, “he could directly influence the energy of the Force to create life; with such knowledge, to maintain life in a cat that’s <em>already</em> living would seem a small matter, don’t you agree?”</p><p>     Skystalker’s ears lowered.  <em>How can a living cat be stronger than <strong>StarClan</strong>?</em></p><p>     “The dark side seems to be – from my reading – the pathway to abilities some would consider unnatural.”</p><p>     The younger tom’s eyes narrowed.  His curiosity extended to one thing: “What happened to him?”</p><p>     “Oh, well, it <em>is</em> a tragedy, after all, you know.  Once he has gained this ultimate power, he has nothing to fear save losing it – that’s why the LightClan Council brought him to mind, you know.”</p><p>     “But what <em>happened</em>?”</p><p>     “Well, to safeguard his power’s existence, he teaches the path toward it to his apprentice.”</p><p>     “And?”</p><p>     “And his apprentice kills him in his sleep,” Foxstar mewed with a careless flick of his tail. “Darkplague never sees it coming.  That’s the tragic irony, you see: he can save any cat in the world from death – except himself.”</p><p>     “And the apprentice?  What happens to <em>him</em>?”</p><p>     “Oh, him.  <em>He</em> goes on to become the greatest DarkClan warrior ever known in the Clan’s history …”</p><p>     Skystalker’s mind ran quickly.  What if …</p><p>     What if …</p><p>     “You seem to know so much about this, I need you to tell me: if Darkplague really <em>did</em> exist, how did he come by this supposed power of his?”</p><p>     “Oh, I am … rather certain … that Darkplague did indeed exist.  And as far as coming by his power …”  Foxstar gave him a significant glance.  “Well, clearly, not from LightClan.”</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker took advantage of the long walk back to Berryheart and Goldpelt’s den to try and organize his thoughts.  He was starting to piece some things together.  Some fell into place easily.  Others?  Not so much.</p><p>     But there was one thought that scratched at his mind:  What role, if any, did Foxstar play in all of this?  Was he innocent if overly fond of dark side research?</p><p>     Or was there indeed something very dark residing within the very heart of the Tribe of Gathering?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. The Will of the Force</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     When Rosefur alerted her that a LightClan cat was waiting to see her, Berryheart hurried out to the main chamber, curiosity rising within her like the rising sun outside –</p><p>     It was Sunlight.</p><p>     The sage had his back to her as he drifted restlessly about the chamber.</p><p>     “Sunlight,” she mewed in puzzlement, “what brings you here?”</p><p>     He turned to her, his eyes clearing a bit.  “Berryheart,” he mewed warmly. “So good to see you again.  I apologize for the early visit.”  His eyes darkened again.  “But as you may guess, this is not a social call.  I’ve come to speak with you about Skystalker.”</p><p>     Her moons as a mediator had trained her well; even as her heart lurched and a shrill <em>How much does he <strong>know</strong>?</em> echoed inside her head, her face remained only attentively blank.</p><p>     A primary rule of Tribe mediation: tell as much truth as you can.  Especially to a LightClan cat.  “He left with Goldpelt earlier for a bit of hunting.  We were very happy to learn of his appointment to the Council.”</p><p>     “Yes.  It is perhaps less than he deserves – though I’m afraid it may be more than he can handle.  So he has been to see you?”</p><p>     “Several times,” she replied evenly. “Something is wrong, isn’t it?”</p><p>     Sunlight tilted his head, and a hint of a rueful purr could be heard from his throat.  “You should have been a LightClan cat.”</p><p>     She managed a light purr of her own.  “And you should never go into mediation.  You’re not very good at hiding your feelings.  What is it?”</p><p>     “It’s Skystalker.”  With his pretense of cheer fading away, he seemed to age before her eyes.  He looked very tired, and profoundly troubled as he sat down.</p><p>     She sat gingerly and wrapped her tail over her paws.  “Is he in trouble again?”</p><p>     “I certainly hope not.  This is more … a personal matter.”  He shifted his weight uncomfortably.  “He’s been put in a difficult position as Foxstar’s representative, but I think there’s more to it than that.  We – spoke, a few sunrises ago, and we parted badly.”</p><p>     Her heart shrank; he <em>must</em> know, and he’d come to confront her – to bring their whole lives crashing down around their ears.  She ached for Skystalker, but her face showed only polite curiosity.</p><p>     “What did you speak about?” she asked delicately.</p><p>     “I’m afraid I can’t tell you,” he mewed with a vague apologetic tone. “LightClan business.  You understand.”</p><p>     She inclined her head.  “Of course.”</p><p>     “It’s only that – well, I’ve been a bit worried about him.  I was hoping he may have talked to you or Goldpelt.”</p><p>     “I can see why you’d consider Goldpelt, they <em>are</em> brothers after all, but why would he talk to <em>me</em> about –” She favored him with her best friendly-but-skeptical look. “– LightClan business?”</p><p>     “Berryheart.  Please.”  He gazed into her eyes with nothing in his own but compassion and fatigued anxiety.  “I am not blind, Berryheart.  Though I have tried to be, for Skystalker’s sake.  And for yours.”</p><p>     “What do you mean?”</p><p>     “Neither of you is very good at hiding feelings, either.”</p><p>     “Sunlight –”</p><p>     “Skystalker has loved you since the day you met, in that horrible trading-den in the Great-Sand-Place.  He’s never even tried to hide it, though we do not speak of it.  We … pretend that I don’t know.  And I’m happy to, because it makes him happy.  <em>You</em> made him happy, when nothing else ever truly could.”  He sighed, his ears lowering.  “And you, Berryheart, skilled as you are in the Great Gathering, cannot hide the light that comes to your eyes when anyone so much as mentions his name.”</p><p>     “I –” She lurched to her paws. “I can’t – Sunlight, don’t make me talk about this …”</p><p>     “I don’t mean to hurt you, Berryheart.  Nor even to make you uncomfortable.  I’m not here to interrogate you; I have no interest in in the details of your relationship.”</p><p>     She turned away, walking just to be moving, barely conscious of passing near the opening in the wall.  “Then why <em>are</em> you here?”</p><p>     He followed her respectfully.  “Skystalker is under a great deal of pressure.  He carries tremendous responsibilities for a cat so young; when I was his age I still had some moons to go as an apprentice.  He is – changing.  Quickly.  And I have some anxiety about what he is changing into.  It would be a … very great mistake … were he to leave LightClan.”</p><p>     She blinked as though he’d slapped her.  <em>Does he know about Skystalker’s plans?</em>  “Why – that seems … <em>unlikely</em>, doesn’t it?  What about this prophecy the cats of LightClan put so much faith in?  Isn’t he the chosen one?”</p><p>     “Very probably.  But I have considered this prophecy; it says only that a chosen one will be born and bring balance to the Force; there’s nothing to indicate he <em>has</em> to be in LightClan.”</p><p>     She blinked rapidly, fighting down a surge of desperate hope that left her breathless.  “He doesn’t <em>have</em> to –?”</p><p>     “My mentor, Moonlight, believed that it was the will of the Force that Skystalker should be trained as a LightClan warrior – and we all have a certain, oh, I suppose you would call it a LightClan-centric bias.  It is a <em>LightClan</em> prophecy, after all.”</p><p>     “But the will of the Force – isn’t that what LightClan follows?”</p><p>     “Well, yes.  But you must understand that not even LightClan cats know all there is to know about the Force; only StarClan knows.  We speak of the <em>will of the Force</em> with the ignorance of a kittypet that has never ventured from its Twoleg’s den.  The simple truth – if any truth is simple – is that we do not truly know what the will of the Force may be.  We can <em>never</em> know.  It is so far beyond our limited understanding that we can only surrender to its mystery.”</p><p>     “What does this have to do with Skystalker?”  She swallowed, but her voice stayed tight and thin.  “And with me?”</p><p>     “I fear that some of his current … difficulty … has to do with your relationship.”</p><p><em>     If only you knew how much,</em> she thought.  “What do you want <em>me</em> to do?”</p><p>     He looked down.  “I cannot tell you what to do, Berryheart.  I can only ask you to consider Skystalker’s best interests.  You know the two of you can never be together while he remains in LightClan.”</p><p>     A bleak chill settled into her chest.  “Sunlight, I can’t talk about this.”</p><p>     “Very well.  But remember that LightClan is his family.  The Clan gives his life <em>structure</em>.  It gives him a direction.  You know how … undisciplined he can be.”</p><p><em>     He’s far more disciplined than you give him credit for, and that’s why he’s the only cat I could ever love …</em>  “Yes.  Yes, of course.”</p><p>     “If his true path leads him away from LightClan, so be it.  But please, for both of your sakes, tread carefully.  Be sure.  Some decisions can never be reversed.”</p><p>     “Yes,” she mewed slowly.  Feelingly.  “I know that too well.”</p><p>     He dipped his head as though he understood, though of course he did not understand at all.  “We all do these days.”</p><p>     His Force-Crystal pulsed briefly.  “Excuse me,” he mewed, and turned aside, focusing on the connection.  <em>“Yes?”</em></p><p>     A familiar tom’s mental-voice echoed in his mind through the connection, deep and clipped: <em>“We are calling the Council to a special meeting.  We’ve located Greyfuzz!”</em></p><p><em>     “Thank you, Violetlight,”</em> Sunlight responded. <em>“I’m on my way.”</em></p><p>     Berryheart struggled to get her emotions under control.  So they wished to keep Skystalker away from her for good.</p><p>     She felt a faint stirring in her belly.  <em>Away from <strong>us</strong>,</em> she amended, and there was so much love and fear and joy and loss all swirling and clashing within her that she dared not utter anything.  She only stared blindly out into the misty dawn as Sunlight came close to her shoulder.</p><p>     “Berryheart,” he mewed softly.  Gently.  Almost regretfully.  “I will not tell the Council of this.  Any of it.  I’m very sorry to burden you with this, and I – I hope I haven’t upset you too much.  We have all been friends for so long … and I hope we always will be.”</p><p>     “Thank you, Sunlight,” she mewed faintly.  She couldn’t look at him.  From the corner of her eye she saw him incline his head respectfully and turn to go, head lowered and looking very alone.</p><p> </p><p>     The only Council members physically present were Sunlight, Violetlight, Brownlight, and Skystalker.  The Council reached a quorum by the Starstone-images of Palelight, Raccoonlight, and Lightstar, who had just arrived in the Tribe of Windy Trees territory.</p><p>     “Why the Valley of Cliffs?” Violetlight was asking. “The local Clan there is neutral, there is little strategic significance there –”</p><p>     “Perhaps that is itself the reason,” Brownlight offered. “Easily taken, and their tunnel-based culture can hide a tremendous number of cats from view.”</p><p>     Palelight’s eyes narrowed.  “Our scouts in the Valley of Cliffs have sent no report of this.”</p><p>     “They may be captured, or dead,” Sunlight mewed.</p><p>     Violetlight leaned toward Skystalker, the origin of this report, with his ears flat against his head.  “How could <em>Foxstar</em> have come by this information when <em>we</em> know nothing about it?”</p><p>     “A pair of rogue-warriors intercepted a cat coming from the area almost a quarter-moon ago,” Skystalker told him. “It took a few sunrises to determine that the cat was from the Tribe of Shadows rather than StoneClan.”</p><p>     Sunlight felt a flicker of concern at the tiredness in the younger tom’s eyes?  He wondered if it was from the earlier hunting trip Berryheart had mentioned, or something else.</p><p>     “Rogue-warriors,” Violetlight meowed heavily, “report to <em>us</em>.”</p><p>     “I beg your pardon, Violetlight, but that is no longer the case.”  Skystalker’s expression was perfectly solemn, and Sunlight thought he could detect a hint of apology in his young friend’s voice.  “The new rule bringing LightClan under Foxstar’s directive naturally includes any outside cats commanded by LightClan cats.  Foxstar is now the commander of the Tribe of Gathering army.”</p><p>     “Pointless it is, to squabble over authority,” the image of Lightstar commented. “Act on this, we must.”</p><p>     “I believe we all agree on that,” Raccoonlight stated briskly. “Let’s move on to planning.”</p><p>     Skystalker drew a deep breath.  “Foxstar has requested that I lead this mission, however, as I am still a <em>warrior</em> of LightClan, I will bow to the Council’s wishes.”</p><p>     “Well spoken, Skystalker,” Violetlight meowed approvingly. “Regardless of Foxstar’s thoughts on the matter the <em>Council</em> has authority on this decision, not him.”</p><p>     Perhaps of all the Council, only Sunlight could detect the shadow of relief that crept into Skystalker’s eye.  Sunlight understood perfectly: to hear such approval from the Clan deputy was to alleviate some of the stress of being caught in the middle of what he saw as his conflicting duties.</p><p>     “Dangerous, Greyfuzz is.  To face him, steady minds are needed.  Sages, we should send.”</p><p>     “Given the strain on our current resources,” Violetlight mewed, “I recommend we send only one sage – Sunlight.”</p><p>     Which would leave Violetlight and Brownlight – both among the greatest fighters LightClan had ever trained – here in the Gathering Place in case Darkshadow did indeed take this opportunity to make a dramatic move.  Not to mention Skystalker, who was three patrols worth of power in his own right.</p><p>     Sunlight dipped his head.  Perfectly logical.  Every cat would agree.</p><p>     It didn’t stop Skystalker from turning to him with obvious concern.  “Are you sure you can manage on your own?  I think Mantisheart would be willing to go with you if you asked.”</p><p>     “Oh, I’m aware.  But I’m fully healed and I have a feel for how Greyfuzz fights now – and for how he runs away.  I am certain I can catch him.”</p><p>     “Sunlight –”</p><p>     “However, if it will make you feel better, I’ll see if one of the other Clans can spare a warrior to act as a messenger,” Sunlight mewed.</p><p>     Skystalker still looked concerned, but he dipped his head in agreement anyway.</p><p>     “Sunlight, my choice is,” Lightstar mewed.</p><p>     Palelight dipped his head.  “I concur.  Let’s put it to a vote.”</p><p>     Violetlight counted the raised tails.  “Six in favor.”</p><p>     He waited, looking at Skystalker.  “Further comment?”</p><p>     “None at all,” was the reply. “If I may speak my own mind, there are few better for this than Sunlight.”</p><p>     Violetlight dipped his head.  “It is unanimous.”</p><p> </p><p>     Mousepool sat up and started cleaning her whiskers.  “I am very grateful to be included here,” she mewed, gesturing with her tail around the main chamber of the ForestClan den at the gathering of mediators. “I speak directly only for my own Clan, of course, but I can tell you that many mediators are becoming very nervous indeed.  You may not know that new leaders, deputies, and even medicine cats in each Clan are bringing in multiple patrols of rogue-warriors – what they call<em> security patrols</em>.  We have all begun to wonder if these new patrols are intended to protect us from the Tribe of Shadows … or to protect these high-ranking cats from <em>us</em>.”</p><p>     Berryheart looked up from the wren she was eating.  “I have … reliable information … that Greyfuzz has been located, and that LightClan is already moving against his position.  The war may be over within the next moon.”</p><p>     “But what then?”  Balefur leaned forward, ears pricked and eyes focused.  “How do we make Foxstar withdraw those patrols?  How do we stop him from assigning <em>more</em> patrols to <em>every</em> Clan and Tribe?”</p><p>     “We don’t have to <em>make</em> him do anything,” Berryheart mewed reasonably. “The Great Gathering granted him additional power only for the duration of the emergency –”</p><p>     “Yet it is only Foxstar himself who has the authority to declare when the emergency is over,” Balefur countered. “How do we make him surrender power back to the Great Gathering?”</p><p>     Mousepool lifted her chin.  “There are many who are willing to do just that,” she mewed. “Not just my own Clan.  Many mediators and their Clans.  We are ready to <em>make</em> him surrender power.”</p><p>     Berryheart pushed the remains of the bird away.  She looked from mediator to mediator expressionlessly.  “Goldpelt, would you mind letting Jayeye and the rest know that they can take a break for the rest of the day?  I’m sure they’re exhausted from everything that is happening.”</p><p>     Goldpelt, smart young tom that he was, didn’t ask questions.  He hurried away to pass the message along.</p><p>     As soon as Goldpelt returned and signaled that they were secure, Berryheart rose and lifted a paw threateningly.  “This is a very dangerous step.  We cannot let this turn into another war.”</p><p>     “That’s the last thing any of us wants,” Balefur mewed with a disapproving look at Mousepool. “MountainClan is like ForestClan; we do very little fighting, if any.  A peaceful solution is our only option.”</p><p>     “Which is the purpose of this petition,” Mothripple mewed, laying her tail against Berryheart’s shoulder. “We’re hoping that a show of solidarity within the Great Gathering might stop Foxstar from further undermining the Tribe’s code, that’s all.  With the backing of a full two hundred mediators –”</p><p>     “– we still have less than we need to stop his supermajority from amending the code any way he happens,” Berryheart finished for her.  She weighed the options in her mind.  “I am willing to present this to Foxstar, but I am losing faith in the Great Gathering’s readiness, or even ability, to keep him in check.  I think we should consult LightClan.”</p><p><em>     Because I really think they can help, or because I just can’t stand to lie to my mate?</em>  She didn’t know.  She hoped that both were true, though she was sure only of the second.</p><p>     Violetbreeze studied her quietly.  “That,” she mewed remotely, “would be dangerous.”</p><p>     Mothripple agreed.  “We don’t know where the cats of LightClan stand in all of this.”</p><p>     Goldpelt shifted forward.  “The LightClan cats aren’t any happier with the situation than we are.”</p><p>     Violetbreeze blinked at him in skepticism.  “You seem … remarkably well informed about LightClan business, Goldpelt.”</p><p>     Goldpelt met her gaze evenly.  “My brother is a LightClan cat,” he stated. “We’ve spoken several times on the topic.”</p><p>     Soilstripe flicked an ear, doubt plainly shown on his dark face.  “If we are to openly oppose Foxstar, we <em>need</em> the support of LightClan.  We need their moral authority.  Otherwise, what do we have?”</p><p>     “The <em>moral authority</em> of LightClan, such as it is,” Violetbreeze mewed, “has been spent lavishly upon war; I fear they have none left for this topic.”</p><p>     “<em>One</em> LightClan cat, then,” Berryheart offered to the others. “Goldpelt’s brother – him I truly know all of us can trust absolutely.”</p><p><em>     At least let me speak the truth to my love.  At least.  Please,</em> she pleaded with them silently.</p><p>     Mousepool flicked her tail.  “Patience, Berryheart.”</p><p>     Fangfur shook out his fur.  “Yes, we cannot block Foxstar’s supermajority – but we can show him that opposition to his methods is growing.  Perhaps that alone might persuade him to moderate his tactics.”</p><p>     Violetbreeze started grooming her chest-fur.  “When you present the Petition of the Two Hundred, many things might change.”</p><p>     “But,” Soilstripe mewed, “will they change for the better?”</p><p>     Balefur and Mothripple exchanged glances that clearly indicated of some shared secret.  Balefur mewed slowly, “Let us see what we can accomplish in the Great Gathering before we involve LightClan.”</p><p>     And as one after another of the mediators agreed, Berryheart could only exchange a sad and worried look with Goldpelt.</p><p> </p><p>     The last rogue-warrior patrol was forming up, each cat moving in perfect synchrony.</p><p>     Standing alongside Sunlight on an overlooking ledge, Skystalker watched the whole thing anxiously.</p><p>     It wasn’t that he really wanted to go with Sunlight to the Valley of Cliffs – even though it’d be a relief to pull out of the quicksand of duties that was dragging him down.  But he couldn’t leave Berryheart or Goldpelt now.  He didn’t care about being the cat to capture Greyfuzz.  And he certainly didn’t care about becoming a sage.</p><p>     So no, it wasn’t that he wanted to go.  It was more, inexplicably, that he wanted Sunlight to <em>stay</em>.</p><p>     There was a cold void in his chest that he was afraid would soon fill with regret, and grief.</p><p>     Of course there was no chance at all that Sunlight wouldn’t go; he’d be the last cat in the world to defy an order of the Council.  Although he felt a small amount of comfort that one of Berryheart’s Clanmates had agreed to go along, Skystalker found himself wishing, not for the first time, that Sunlight could be a little more like the late Moonlight.  Though he’d known Moonlight for a mere moon, Skystalker could almost see him right now, ears tilted slightly as he inclined his head over his shorter apprentice; he could almost hear his gentle voice instructing Sunlight to <em>be mindful of the currents of the Living Force: to do one’s duty is not always to do right.  Concern yourself with right action.  Let duty take care of itself.</em></p><p>     But he couldn’t state that.  All he <em>could</em> state was, “I have a bad feeling about this.”</p><p>     Sunlight flicked an ear in his direction.  “I’m sorry, Skystalker.  Did you say something?”</p><p>     “Your going to need more help on this one, Sunlight.”  And he could feel an unexpected truth there, too – he could feel that something big was coming.</p><p>     Something terrible.</p><p>     “It may be nothing but a tail-chase,” Sunlight mewed. “I can hardly pull any of the others away from their own duties, Skystalker.”</p><p>     “I know: DarkClan.”  The name left a bitter taste on Skystalker’s tongue.  “I just –” Skystalker lashed his tail helplessly, looking away. “I don’t like the idea of you going off alone like this.  I mean, look what happened <em>last</em> time.”</p><p>     Sunlight managed a purr.  “Don’t remind me.”  He nudged the younger tom gently.  “I’ll be alright, you’ll see.”</p><p>     “Sunlight, wait.”  Skystalker sighed, then turned to face him fully.  He couldn’t just stand here and let him walk away.  Not now.  Not when he had so much to tell him …</p><p>     He had a sinking feeling he might not get another chance.</p><p>     “Sunlight …,” he mewed hesitantly, “I know I’ve … not seemed very appreciative of your friendship.  My frustration with the Council … I know that none of it is your fault, and I apologize.  For all of it.  Your friendship means everything to me.”</p><p>     Sunlight draped his tail over Skystalker’s shoulders.  “You are wise and strong, Skystalker.  You are a credit to LightClan, and you have far surpassed my humble efforts at training.  Your greatness isn’t that of raw power but of spirit.  Courage and generosity, compassion and commitment.  These are your virtues,” Sunlight mewed gently. “You have done great things, and I am very proud of you.”</p><p>     Skystalker found he could not respond.</p><p>     “Well.”  Sunlight purred as he stepped away.  “I believe I hear Greyfuzz calling my name.  Good-bye, old friend.  May the Force be with you.”</p><p>     All Skystalker could offer was a reflexive echo.</p><p>     “May the Force be with you.”</p><p>     He stood, still and silent, and watched Sunlight race away.  Then he turned and slowly, head hanging, moved away.</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Free Fall in the Dark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     A chill wind scoured the ruins outside of Foxstar’s den.  Skystalker sat by a large opening just outside the entrance to the main chamber with his tail around his paws, staring down at the cats passing by far below.  He didn’t feel the chill, or the wind.  He didn’t hear the quiet conversation behind him.</p><p>     What he saw were the faces of Tawnypaw and Sunlight.  Two of the shrinking number of cats that he knew he could trust beyond any doubt.  What he heard was the friendly banter they shared together.  What he felt was a memory of warm affection at simply standing alongside them.</p><p>     It had been nearly a half-moon since Sunlight left for the Valley of Cliffs.  Even longer since he’d last seen his former apprentice.  And in that time, his unease and the feeling of impending doom had only increased.  He’d lost sleep and the sunrises had begun to flow together into a haze of fatigue so deep it became a physical pain.  The Force could keep him upright, keep him moving, keep him thinking, but it could not give him rest.</p><p>     How had everything gone so fast from so right to so wrong?</p><p>     He couldn’t even imagine.</p><p>     His ear twitched and he turned to see Foxstar emerge beside the tall, bulky form of Loudear, the Tribe of Gathering deputy.  The blue tabby tom’s ears tilted over Foxstar as they walked together, seemingly deep in conversation.</p><p>     Skystalker moved forward to meet them.  “Foxstar,” he mewed, dipping his head in greeting. “Loudear.”</p><p>     Loudear looked at Skystalker.  “Greetings, Skystalker.  I trust the sunrise finds you well?”</p><p>     Skystalker’s eyes felt as if they’d been dusted with sand.  “Very well, Loudear, thank you for asking.”</p><p>     Loudear turned back to Foxstar, and Skystalker idly wondered how much of an innocent in this mess the deputy was.  Did he know anything about Darkshadow?  Did Foxstar?  Maybe he was just overtired, but somehow, looking at the two cats, he found himself filled with suspicion toward both of them.</p><p>     Once Loudear was dismissed, Foxstar turned back to Skystalker.  “So, Skystalker,” Foxstar mewed, “your friend must be arriving any sunrise now, yes?”</p><p>     “Provided nothing has happened on the way,” Skystalker replied, “Sunlight will arrive there soon and will bring him down.”</p><p>     “Provided, of course,” Foxstar murmured as he led Skystalker toward the main chamber, “that the Council didn’t make a mistake.  I still believe Sunlight is not the cat for this task.”</p><p>     Skystalker flicked an ear in irritation.  Why was Foxstar so determined to believe so poorly of the sage?  Despite his instinct to defend his former mentor, he reminded himself to tread carefully.  “The Council was … very sure in its decision.”</p><p>     “Certainty is a fine thing,” the ginger tom allowed. “Though it too often happens that those who are the most entirely certain are also the most entirely wrong.  What will the Council do if Sunlight proves unable to apprehend Greyfuzz without your help?”</p><p>     “I’m sure I cannot say, Foxstar.  I imagine they will deal with that if and when it happens.  LightClan teachings state that anticipation is distraction.”</p><p>     “In my work, Skystalker, anticipation is often my sole hope of success.  I must anticipate the actions of my adversaries – and even those of my allies.  Even –” He flicked his tail toward Skystalker, purring. “– my friends.  It is the only way I can be prepared to take advantage of opportunity … and conversely, to avoid disaster.”</p><p>     “But if a disaster comes about by the will of the Force –”</p><p>     “I’m afraid I don’t believe in the will of the Force,” Foxstar mewed, his ears lowering apologetically. “I believe it is <em>our</em> will that matters.  I believe that everything good in our Tribe has come about not by the blind action of some mystical energy from StarClan, but by the focused will of <em>living cats</em>: mediators and warriors, medicine cats and leaders, struggling with every breath of their bodies to shape their Clans.  To improve the lives of all.”</p><p>     They stood now in the middle of the chamber.  “Well, as much as I enjoy such an exchange of thoughts, that was not the reason I asked you to meet me.  We have business to discuss, and I fear it may be very serious indeed.  Some of it may be difficult to hear.”</p><p>     “Everything is, these days,” Skystalker muttered as he sat down.</p><p>     Foxstar didn’t seem to hear.  “It concerns Sunlight.  My friends among the mediators have picked up some disturbing rumors about him.  Many in the Great Gathering believe that Sunlight is not fit for this assignment.”</p><p>     Skystalker blinked.  “Are you serious?”</p><p>     “I’m most serious, I’m afraid.  It is a … complicated situation, Skystalker.  It seems there are some mediators who now regret having given me emergency duties.”</p><p>     Skystalker felt his blood freeze and his heart sink as a horrible thought crossed his mind.  “There have been dissenters and naysayers since before the Battle of Stone-Place, Foxstar.  Why should it be cause for concern now?  And how does it affect Sunlight?”</p><p>     “I’m getting to that.”  Foxstar took a deep breath and turned his head to face the openings in the far wall.  “The difference is that now, some of these mediators – actually a large number of them – seem to have given up on a unified voice.  Unable to achieve their ends in the Great Gathering, they are organizing into a group, preparing to remove me by … other means.”</p><p>     Skystalker blinked, struggling to keep his expression blank.  The horrible thought in his mind started to grow stronger.</p><p>     “The rumor is,” Foxstar continued, “that the leaders of this group may have fallen victim to the … persuasive powers … of LightClan’s Council, and are on their way to becoming accomplices in the Council’s plot against the Tribe of Gathering.”</p><p>     “Foxstar, I –” Skystalker’s ears lowered. “This just seems … bee-brained.”</p><p>     “And it may be entirely false.  Remember that these are only rumors.  Entirely unconfirmed.  Tribe gossip is rarely accurate, but if it <em>is</em> true … we must be <em>prepared</em>, Skystalker.  I still have friends enough in the Great Gathering to catch the scent of whatever this disloyal group is planning.  And I have a very good idea of who the leaders are; in fact, my final meeting at sunhigh is with a delegation representing the group.  I would like you to be present for that as well.”</p><p>     “Me?”  Just <em>what</em> was this tom <em>up</em> to?  “What for?”</p><p>     “Your special senses, Skystalker.  Your ability to read evil intent.  I have no doubt these mediators will put some virtuous façade on their plotting; with your help, we will shred that mist and uncover the truth.”</p><p>     Skystalker had to hold back his true thoughts.  If he was to figure out what Foxstar was really up to, he’d have to play along a bit longer.  “I’m willing to try, Foxstar.”</p><p>     “We won’t try, Skystalker.  We will <em>do</em>.  After all, they are only mediators.  Most of them couldn’t hide what they’re thinking from a kit, let alone the most powerful LightClan cat to ever live.”</p><p>     He sat back and curled his tail around his paws pensively.  “LightClan’s Council, however, is another matter entirely.  A secretive group of self-important cats who wield tremendous power, individually as well as collectively – how am I to trace the maze of <em>their</em> plots?  That’s why I put you on the Council.  If these rumors are true, you may be the Tribe’s last hope.”</p><p>     Skystalker narrowed his eyes.  He mewed slowly, “You still haven’t told me what this has to do with Sunlight.”</p><p>     “Ah, that – well, that is the difficult part.  The <em>disturbing</em> part.  It seems that Sunlight has been in contact with a certain mediator who is known to be among the leaders of this group.  Apparently, very <em>close</em> contact.  The rumor is that he was seen leaving this mediator’s den the very sunrise before he left, at an … unseemly hour.”</p><p>     “Who?”  Skystalker pricked his ears and leaned forward.  He had a sinking feeling he knew the answer.</p><p>     “I’m sorry, Skystalker.  But this mediator in question is, in fact, one you know quite well.”</p><p>     “You mean –” Skystalker didn’t dare utter her name.</p><p>     Foxstar gave him a look of melancholy sympathy.  “I’m afraid so.  Sometimes the closest,” Foxstar mewed sadly, “are those who cannot see.”</p><p>     Skystalker froze.  He and Berryheart had agreed not to discuss the details of whatever secret she and Goldpelt had been keeping, and now …</p><p>     Now that secret made them targets and he was meant to be the hunter tracking them.</p><p>     “Don’t take it too hard,” Foxstar mewed, misinterpreting Skystalker’s reaction. “It may be only idle gossip.  All this may be only a figment of my overheated imagination; after all these moons of war, I find myself inspecting every shadow that might hide an enemy.  That is what I need from <em>you</em>, Skystalker: I need you to find the truth.  To set my mind at rest.”</p><p>     A distant smolder kindled between Skystalker’s ribs, so faint as to be barely there at all, but even a hint of that fire prompted Skystalker to his paws.</p><p>     “I will do that,” he mewed.</p><p>     “Good, Skystalker.  I knew I could count on you.”</p><p>     Skystalker turned to go.  He needed to go to her.  He needed to see her.  He had to <em>warn</em> her.  He would do it <em>now</em>.  Right now.  In the middle of the day.  It didn’t matter who might see him.</p><p>     This was business.</p><p>     “I know who my friends are,” he meowed, and left.</p><p> </p><p>     He slipped into the ForestClan den like a shadow and found her emerging from her nesting chamber.</p><p>     “Skystalker?  What are you doing here?  It’s a little before sunhigh …”  Her face was attentively blank.</p><p>     “Looking for you,” he replied, eyes darting about to ensure they were alone. “We need to talk.”</p><p>     “I have a very important meeting at sunhigh,” she replied stiffly. “Why do you –”</p><p>     “This meeting – is it with <em>Foxstar</em>?”  Skystalker’s voice came out low and tense.  “Is it his <em>last meeting at sunhigh</em>?”</p><p>     “Y-yes, yes it is.”  She blinked.  “Skystalker, what’s –”</p><p>     “I have to be there, too.”  He sat down hard and hung his head.  “Did Sunlight stop by before he left?”</p><p>     “He came by right before he left.”  She padded closer to him.  “Why?”</p><p>     He let out a breath.  “Foxstar.”</p><p>     She froze.  “Skystalker, what is it?  What’s wrong?”</p><p>     When he could overcome his emotions enough to reply, he mewed softly, “I just – I feel like I’m in free fall.  Free fall in the dark.  I don’t know which way is up.  I don’t know where I’ll be when I land.  Or crash.”</p><p>     His ears lowered further.  “I think it’s going to be a crash.”</p><p>     She sat next to him and laid her paw over his.  “What has happened, my love?  You’ve always been so sure of yourself.  What’s changed?”</p><p>     “Nothing,” he mewed. “Everything.  I don’t know.  It’s all so shredded, I can’t even tell you.  Foxstar doesn’t trust the Council, the Council doesn’t trust Foxstar.  They’re plotting against each other and both sides are pressuring <em>me</em>, and –”</p><p>     “Surely that’s only your imagination, Skystalker.  The LightClan Council is the center of the Tribe of Gathering.”</p><p>     “I don’t know,” he mewed helplessly. “I don’t know anything anymore.  All I know is I’m being torn apart, and I don’t feel like the warrior I should be.”</p><p>     “You’re just the warrior for me,” she replied, leaning close to press her nose to his cheek. “And you’re just the warrior for your brother.”</p><p>     He let out a shaky breath.  After a moment he mewed, “I know that we agreed to keep silent about … the thing you’ve been keeping from me.  But after this meeting, I need to know everything you are able to tell me.  And please, keep Goldpelt as far from it as possible.”</p><p>     She quietly agreed.</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker stood quietly to one side and a few steps behind where Foxstar sat at one side of the chamber.</p><p>     On the other side stood the mediator delegation.</p><p>     The way they had looked at him, when they had entered the chamber – the way their eyes still, even now, flicked to his, then away again before he could fully meet their gaze – the way none of them dared to ask why Foxstar had a LightClan cat at his shoulder during what was supposed to be a private meeting … it seemed to him they already guessed why he was there.</p><p>     They were simply afraid to bring it up.</p><p>     Now they couldn’t be sure where LightClan stood.</p><p>     And Skystalker despised Foxstar for it.</p><p>     He studied the mediators.</p><p>     Fangfur of ShiverClan: face lined with lines of greying fur that was waved like water ripples.  He had a gentle, almost simplistic voice that could easily lead one to forget that he was one of the sharpest minds in the Great Gathering.  Also, he was such a good friend of Ibisclaw that the powerful MazeClan mediator might as well have been present himself.</p><p>     Blackfrost of PlateauClan and Deepfin of LoamClan stood together – perhaps needing each other for moral support – and neither had any to say at all.  And then, of course, there was Berryheart.</p><p>     Glowing in the sunlight that peeked in through the openings along the outside wall, her warm brown eyes gleaming like a full moon –</p><p>     Speaking in her mediation voice, and keeping her expression neutral.</p><p>     Berryheart was the primary voice.  Skystalker could easily guess why.</p><p>     “We are not attempting to delegitimize your leadership,” she was explaining. “That’s why we’re here.  If we <em>were</em> trying to organize an opposition – if we sought to impose our requests as demands – we would hardly bring them before you in this manner.  This request has been backed by two hundred mediators, Foxstar.  We ask only that you ask your allies within the individual Clans not to interfere with the legitimate business of the Great Gathering, and that you open peace talks with the Tribe of Shadows.  We seek only to end the war, and bring peace and stability back to our birth Clans.  As a former ForestClan cat surely you can understand this.”</p><p>     “I understand a great many things,” Foxstar meowed.</p><p>     “This system of rogue-warrior patrols you have created for the Clans is very troubling – it seems that you are imposing force even on loyal Clans.”</p><p>     “Your reservations are noted, Berryheart.  I assure you that the patrols are intended only to make your Clans safer – by coordinating defenses and ensuring that neighboring Clans meld into cooperative groups.  That’s all.  They will in no way compete with the duties and prerogatives – with the power – of the Great Gathering.”</p><p>     Something in the odd emphasis he put on <em>power</em> made Skystalker think Foxstar was directing it toward Skystalker and not Berryheart.</p><p>     “May I take it, then,” Berryheart mewed, “that there will be no further amendments to the Tribe’s code?”</p><p>     “My dear mediator, what has the code to do with this?  I thought we were discussing ending the war.  Once the Tribe of Shadows has been defeated, then we can start talking about the code again.  Must I remind you that the extraordinary responsibilities granted to my rank are only in force for the duration of the emergency?  Once the war ends, they are removed automatically.”</p><p>     “And your patrols?  Will they ‘be removed,’ too?”</p><p>     “They are not <em>my</em> patrols, Berryheart, they are the Tribe’s,” Foxstar replied imperturbably. “The fate of their positions will be in the paws of the Great Gathering, where it belongs.”</p><p>     Berryheart did not seem any more reassured than Skystalker felt.  “And peace talks?  Will you offer a truce?  Have you even <em>tried</em> a diplomatic resolution to the war?”</p><p>     “You must trust me to do the right thing,” he mewed. “That is, after all, why I am here.”</p><p>     Fangfur roused himself.  “But surely –”</p><p>     “I have said I will do what is <em>right</em>,” Foxstar meowed, a testy edge sharpening his voice.  He rose, drawing himself to his full, height, then inclining his head with an air of finality. “And that should be enough for your … group.”</p><p>     Berryheart’s ears flattened against her head, and her eyes narrowed into thin, grim slits.  “On behalf of the Delegation of the Two Hundred,” she meowed with tight-drawn formality, “I thank you, Foxstar.”</p><p>     “And I thank you, Berryheart, and your friends –” Foxstar’s ear twitched. “for bringing this to my attention.”</p><p>     The mediators turned reluctantly and began to file out.  Berryheart paused, just for a heartbeat, to meet Skystalker’s eyes with a reassuring gaze.</p><p>     He stayed expressionless.  But he managed to silently communicate his thanks for talking Goldpelt out of joining this delegation … and understanding that they would converse further later.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Death in the Valley of Cliffs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>To those who celebrate it, regardless of how, Happy Easter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     As Sunlight padded closer to the entrance of the biggest cave in the territory, he considered what he knew of the place and the Clan that lived here.</p><p>     There wasn’t much.</p><p>     He knew that despite its outward appearance, the Valley of Cliffs was not truly a desert; there was water aplenty in underground streams within the multitude of caves and tunnels.  These streams were all that was left of what had once been a lake that had worn away and created the endless cliffs that gave the place its name.  He knew that StoneClan, isolated as it was, rarely had contact with other cats.</p><p>     And he knew that Greyfuzz was here.</p><p>     How he knew, he could not say; so far as he could tell, his conviction had nothing to do with the Force.  But within heartbeats of entering the territory, he was sure.  This was it.  One way or another, this was the place his hunt for Greyfuzz would come to a close.</p><p>     He felt it in his bones: the Valley of Cliffs was a place for endings.</p><p>     Having left Bronzefur just outside of StoneClan’s territory markers as a messenger, he was going in alone; Codslash and five rogue-warrior patrols waited along the outer edge of the Valley of Cliffs.  Sunlight’s plan was to find Greyfuzz, then keep him busy until the rogue-warriors could attack; he would be a one-cat diversionary force, holding the attention of what was sure to be hundreds of Tribe of Shadows warriors directed inward toward him and Greyfuzz, to cover the approach of the rogue-warriors.  Three patrols would strike full-force, with the remaining two in reserve, both to provide reinforcements and to cover possible escape routes.</p><p>     “I can keep them distracted for quite some time,” Sunlight had told Codslash on the way. “Just don’t take too long.”</p><p>     “Come on, Sunlight,” Codslash had replied, humor glinting in his green eyes, “have I ever let you down?”</p><p>     “Well –” Sunlight had mewed with an answering glint in his blue eyes as they reached the stopping point, “the incident with Ashtree, for starters …”</p><p>     “That was Skystalker’s fault; <em>he</em> was the one who was late …”</p><p>     “Oh?  And who will you blame it on <em>this</em> time?”  Sunlight had purred with amusement as he and Bronzefur started down into the valley.  “Very well, then.  I’ll try not to destroy the entire army before you get there.”</p><p>     “I’m counting on you, Sunlight.  Don’t let me down.”</p><p>     “Have I ever?”</p><p>     “Well,” Codslash had mewed, “there <em>was</em> the incident with Ashtree …”</p><p>     Sunlight stumbled a bit on some loose stones as he drew closer, his fur blown about by the wind.  Once he made it into the cave itself, the wail of the wind died down.</p><p>     A group of StoneClan cats was already padding toward the newcomer.  The cat in charge was a tall tom with grey tabby fur.  The tom carried himself in a way that reminded Sunlight of his former mentor.</p><p><em>     That was quick,</em> Sunlight thought. <em>Almost like they’ve been expecting me.</em></p><p>     “Greetings, cat of LightClan,” the StoneClan tom mewed gravely. “I am Meadowstar, leader of our peaceful Clan.  What business could bring one of your Clan to our remote hunting grounds?”</p><p>     Sunlight sensed no malice in this cat, and there was a palpable hint of fear in the tom’s scent; Sunlight decided to tell the truth.  “My business is the war,” he mewed.</p><p>     “There is no war here, unless you brought it with you,” Meadowstar replied, a guise of serenity concealing what the Force told Sunlight was anxiety verging on panic.</p><p>     “Very well, then,” Sunlight mewed, playing along. “Please permit me to catch a bit of prey just above the cliffs, and to use the outer part of your territory as a base to search the surrounding area.”</p><p>     “For what do you search?”</p><p>     “Even this far away, you must have heard of Greyfuzz.  It is he I seek, and his army of rogues.”</p><p>     Meadowstar took another step closer and leaned down to bring his muzzle near Sunlight’s ear.  “He is here!” Meadowstar hissed urgently. “We are hostages – we are being watched!”</p><p>     Sunlight blinked matter-of-factly.  “Thank you, Meadowstar,” he mewed in a thoroughly ordinary voice. “I am grateful for your hospitality, and will depart as soon as we are done here.”</p><p>     “Listen to me, cat of LightClan!” Meadowstar’s hiss became even more intense. “You must depart in <em>truth</em>!  I was <em>ordered</em> to reveal their presence – this is a trap!”</p><p>     “Of course it is,” Sunlight mewed equably.</p><p>     “The Sky-cliff – <em>hundreds</em> of rogues!”</p><p>     “Have your Clanmates seek shelter elsewhere.”  Sunlight turned casually and scanned upward, toward the top of the tallest cliff.  At the edge of the cliff in question, his eye caught the tip of a tail: a tail that the Force indicated belonged to a Tribe of Shadows cat.  He flicked an ear absently and turned once more to Meadowstar.  “Tell them I promised to give a report to the Tribe of Gathering.  Tell them I really only wanted a piece of prey to curb my hunger before moving on.”</p><p>     “But – but what will you <em>do</em>?”</p><p>     “Tell your warriors,” Sunlight mewed gravely, “now is the time.”</p><p> </p><p>     In the LightClan Council chamber, Skystalker waited as Violetlight received Sunlight’s report through the connection between the two sages’ Force-Crystals.</p><p>
  <em>     “I am about to go in after Greyfuzz.  Between myself and the rogue-warriors, it shouldn’t take me too long.”</em>
</p><p><em>     “Thank you, Sunlight.”</em>  Violetlight’s face did not betray a single hint of what he felt.  To Skystalker’s eye, the deputy looked calm as a stone.  <em>“Keep us apprised of your progress.  May the Force be with you.”</em></p><p>
  <em>     “And may it be with you.”</em>
</p><p>     Once the connection broke, Violetlight repeated the report to the warrior and the other two Council members present via Starstone: Palelight and Lightstar.  Violetlight turned a brief but significant glance upon the two older toms.</p><p>     Then he turned to Skystalker.  “Report this to Foxstar.”</p><p>     “Of course I will, Violetlight.”</p><p>     “And take careful note of his reaction.  We will need a full account.”</p><p>     “And if he doesn’t react?”</p><p>     “Everything, Skystalker.  What he says.  Who he contacts.  What he does.  Even his facial expressions.  It’s very important.”</p><p>     “Yes, Violetlight,” he mewed, and left.</p><p> </p><p>     Once Skystalker was gone, Violetlight found himself staring at the entrance through which the young warrior had left.  “Now we shall see,” he murmured. “At last.  The waters will begin to clear.”</p><p>     Though the Starstone-images of two other Council members were still present, Violetlight wasn’t directing the comment to them.  It was for the grim, clouded future inside his head.</p><p>     “Have you considered,” Palelight mewed carefully, “that if Foxstar refuses to surrender power, removing him is only a first step?”</p><p>     Violetlight looked at the Starstone-image of his Clanmate.  “I am not a mediator.  Removing a tyrant is enough for me.”</p><p>     “But it will not be enough for the Tribe,” Palelight countered sadly. “Foxstar’s dictatorship has been legitimized – and can be enshrined in a revised code – by the supermajority he controls in the Great Gathering.”</p><p>     The grim future inside Violetlight’s head turned even darker.  The white tom was right.</p><p>     “Filled with corruption, the Great Gathering is,” Lightstar agreed. “Controlled, they must be, until replaced the corrupted mediators can be, with mediators honest and –”</p><p>     “Do you <em>hear</em> us?”  Violetlight lashed his tail.  “How have we come to this?  Imprisoning a leader.  Taking over the <em>Tribe of Gathering</em> –!  It’s as though Darkbird was <em>right</em> – to save the Tribe, we’ll have to destroy it …”</p><p>     Lightstar lifted his head, and his eyes slitted as though he struggled with some inner pain.  “Hold on to hope we must; our true enemy, Foxstar is not, nor the Great Gathering; the true enemy is instead Darkshadow, who controls them both.  Once destroyed Darkshadow is … all these other concerns, less dire they will instantly become.”</p><p>     “Yes.”  Violetlight rose, and moved to an opening in the wall.  “Yes, that is true.”</p><p>     Indigo gloom gathered among the trees and ruins outside.</p><p>     “And we have put the chosen one in play against the last of DarkClan,” he mewed. “In that, we must place our faith, and our hopes for the future of the Tribe of Gathering.”</p><p> </p><p>     Sunlight slipped into Bronzefur’s hiding place.  “Bronzefur, I need you to run a message back to Codslash.  Greyfuzz is atop the highest cliff here.  Tell Codslash that I’m engaging now.  He is to attack in full force as planned.”</p><p>     The ForestClan she-cat’s ear twitched.  “And I’m supposed to hold back, I presume.”</p><p>     “I made a promise,” he told her honestly, “and I’d prefer to keep it.”</p><p>     She sniffed, then turned and hurried away.  From the deep shadows, Sunlight watched her go.</p><p>     “I suppose I am committed, now,” he murmured.</p><p>     He peered out at the cliff indicated by the StoneClan cats.  From the new angle, he could see more cats trying and failing to keep away from the edge.  That was where Greyfuzz would be: right at the center of his army.</p><p>     “Then that’s where I should be, too.”  He looked around, checking for any cat keeping watch.</p><p>     Then he crept out of the hiding place and started toward the Sky-cliff.</p><p> </p><p>     Ledge after ledge he climbed.  The immediate area looked and felt deserted.  Nothing moved save the shadows of clouds crossing the sky far above; even the prey had disappeared.</p><p>     The first sign of life he saw came at the very top; a small group of five cats clustered together that looked as though they might, just possibly, be waiting for him.</p><p>     Sunlight shifted fully onto the ledge.  He moved without haste, without urgency.  The Force layered connections upon connections, and brought them all to life within him: the dusty stone beneath his paws, and far below that the smooth lightless currents of the underground stream.  He became the turbulent swirl of wind whistling through the valley; he became the sunlight and the shadow alike.  His heart echoed the beat of his enemies’, and his mind whirred with their every thought.</p><p>     And when the Force layered into his consciousness the awareness of the tunnels within the Sky-cliff itself, he became aware, without surprise and without distress, that it was actually a large camp.</p><p>     Filled with Tribe of Shadows warriors.</p><p>     Which made him also aware, again without surprise and without distress, that he would very likely die here.</p><p>     Contemplation of death brought only one slight sting of regret, and more than a bit of puzzlement.  Until this very moment, he had never realized he’d always expected, for no discernible reason –</p><p>     That when he died, Skystalker would be with him.</p><p><em>     How curious,</em> he thought, and then he turned his mind to business.</p><p> </p><p>     The four guards spread out in a shallow arc between Sunlight and Greyfuzz.  Sunlight stopped a respectful distance away; he held himself steady and firm but relaxed.</p><p>     “Greyfuzz,” he meowed, “you’re coming with me.”</p><p>     The large tom stalked toward him, passing through his line of guards without the slightest hint of reluctance.  “Sunlight.  Don’t tell me, let me guess: this is the part where you give me a chance to surrender.”</p><p>     “It can be,” Sunlight allowed equably. “Or, if you like, it can be the part where I drag your corpse back the Gathering place by your tail.”</p><p>     “I’ll take option three.”  Greyfuzz lifted his tail, and the four guards moved to surround Sunlight.  “That’s the one where I watch you die.”</p><p>     Another tail-signal, and the hidden warriors rushed out.  Hundreds of cats poured out of the tunnels in a torrent of fangs, fur, and claws.  Within heartbeats Sunlight was standing at their full focus.</p><p>     Through it all, Sunlight never moved.</p><p>     “I’m sorry, was I not clear?” he meowed. “There is no <em>option three</em>.”</p><p>     Greyfuzz flicked his tail.  “Do you never tire of this mouse-brained banter?”</p><p>     “I rarely tire at all,” Sunlight replied mildly, “and I have no better way to pass the time while I wait for you to either decide to surrender, or choose to die.”</p><p>     “That choice was made long before I ever met <em>you</em>.”  Greyfuzz turned away.  “Kill him.”</p><p>     Instantly the guards around Sunlight lunged with sharp extended claws faster than most cats could see – which was less troublesome than it might have been, for the center was already empty of sage.</p><p>     The Force had let him collapse as though he’d suddenly fainted, then it activated the blue Force-Crystal attached to his leg while he turned his fall into a roll; that roll carried his glowing claws through a short arc that sliced the leg of one of the guards, and as the Force brought Sunlight back to his paws, the Force also nudged the crippled guard into the path of the blazing claws and sent him to the ground in a smoldering, crumpled heap.</p><p>     One down.</p><p>     The remaining three pressed the attack, but more cautiously; they kept their distance and darted in and out too quickly for his strikes.  He gave way before them, his defensive strikes barely keeping them at bay.</p><p>     These three cats, specially trained for the purpose of fighting and defeating Force-users, were certainly beyond Sunlight’s ability to defeat, but it was not Sunlight who would defeat them; Sunlight wasn’t even fighting.  He was only a vessel, emptied of self.  The Force, shaped by his skill and guided by his clarity of mind, fought through him.</p><p>     In the Force, he felt their destruction: it was somewhere above and behind him.</p><p>     He went to meet it with a backflipping leap that the Force used to lift him neatly atop a tall pile of rocks.  <em>Here,</em> hissed the Force within him, and Sunlight paused, balancing on the uppermost stone, watching the oncoming enemies that raced toward him.  Though he could feel its close approach, he had no idea from where their destruction might com … until the Force showed him a weak spot in the pile and hissed, <em>Now.</em></p><p>     He jumped back with a heavy kick and the stones tumbled and crashed down upon all three guards with the finality of a tree-crash.</p><p>     Two, three, and four.</p><p><em>     Oh,</em> thought Sunlight with detached approval. <em>That worked out rather well.</em></p><p>     Only five hundred more to go.  Give or take.</p><p>     A heartbeat later the Force had him hurtling through a storm of cats as every warrior charged for him at once.</p><p>     Letting go of intention, letting go of desire, letting go of life, Sunlight fixed his entire attention on a thread of the Force that pulled him toward Greyfuzz: not where Greyfuzz was, but where Greyfuzz would be when Sunlight got there …</p><p>     And landed so close to Greyfuzz that the other tom was in the way of his own warriors.</p><p>     “Greyfuzz,” Sunlight meowed with a bland polite tone as though unexpectedly greeting some cat he privately disliked. “My offer is still open.”</p><p>     Greyfuzz pulled himself to full height imperiously.  “Do you believe that I would surrender to you <em>now</em>?”</p><p>     “I am still willing to take you alive.”  Sunlight’s tail flick took in the rubble around the cliff.  “So far, very few have been hurt.”</p><p>     Greyfuzz tilted his head so that he could glare down into Sunlight’s face.  “I have <em>hundreds</em> of warriors.  You cannot defeat them all.”</p><p>     “I don’t have to.”</p><p>     “This is <em>your</em> chance to surrender, Sunlight.”  Greyfuzz waved his tail toward the caves below them.  StoneClan is in my grip; stand down now, or I will <em>dig in</em> … until this entire valley floods over with innocent blood.”</p><p>     “That’s not what it’s about to flood with,” Sunlight meowed. “You should pay more attention to your surroundings.”</p><p>     Grey eyes narrowed.  “What?”</p><p>     “Have a look around.”  He pointed toward the edge with his tail.  “It’s about to start sprouting rogues.”</p><p>     Greyfuzz snarled again, turning to look, “What?”</p><p>     Rogue-warriors suddenly poured in over the side of the cliff, throwing themselves into fierce battle.  The Tribe cats immediately switched their attention from Sunlight to the newcomers.</p><p>     Greyfuzz turned back to Sunlight.  He lowered his head, grey glare fixed on the LightClan sage.  “To the death, then.”</p><p>     Sunlight sighed.  “If you insist.”</p><p>     The tan tabby tom shook out the ruff of fur about his shoulders.  He slid into a well-practiced crouch.  “You will not be the first LightClan cat I have killed, nor will you be the last.”</p><p>     Sunlight’s only reply was to subtly shift his own stance.</p><p>     Greyfuzz bared his teeth.  “Come on, then, Sunlight!  Come for me!” he growled. “I have been trained to counter your LightClan skills by Darkbird himself!”</p><p>     “Oh?  What a curious coincidence,” Sunlight meowed with a deceptively pleasant gleam in his eyes. “I trained the warrior who killed him.”</p><p>     With a convulsive snarl, Greyfuzz lunged.</p><p> </p><p>     Greyfuzz was truly a well-trained fighter, each blow coming from a different angle with different speed and intensity, an unpredictably broken rhythm of slashes, swipes, and jabs of which every single one could have taken Sunlight’s life.</p><p>     Not one touched him.</p><p>     Greyfuzz, snarling in fury, started to move faster until finally, he started to overwhelm Sunlight’s defense.</p><p>     So Sunlight used his defense to attack.</p><p>     A subtle shift in the angle of a single counter brought Sunlight’s paw in contact not with the oncoming claws, but with the opposite leg.</p><p>     The tan tabby tom stumbled back, and a hind paw scraped the edge of the cliff.</p><p>     Greyfuzz paused, eyes widening, then drawing narrow.</p><p>     Sunlight tilted his head mockingly.</p><p>     Greyfuzz lunged.</p><p>     Sunlight twisted.</p><p>     Both cats went over the edge and landed on the next ledge in a shower of debris.</p><p>     By the time Sunlight got back to his paws and shook the dust from his pelt, Greyfuzz was nowhere to be seen.</p><p>     Sunlight waved his tail at a rogue-warrior.  “Greyfuzz!” he called. “Which way?”</p><p>     The rogue-warrior gestured down with his tail.  He followed the gesture and saw, for a heartbeat in the shadow of an overhang, the length of a tan tabby tail.</p><p>     Greyfuzz was very good at running away.</p><p>     “Not this time,” Sunlight muttered, and raced after him.</p><p>     Down the pair plunged, leaping and scrabbling in swift descent, with Greyfuzz keeping mere rabbit-lengths ahead of Sunlight.</p><p>     Half-slipping on some loose stones and nearly falling off the cliffside altogether, Sunlight hissed under his breath, “Force, I <em>hate</em> climbing!”  He reflected that it was just as well Skystalker wasn’t there after all; he’d have never heard the end of it.</p><p>     As they neared a large, flat ledge about halfway down, Sunlight leapt at Greyfuzz, knocking the tom off the side of the cliff and down toward the ledge.  Sunlight pushed off of the tumbling cat, the Force lifting him free.  Both toms hit the ground at opposite sides of the ledge, sides heaving with each breath.</p><p>     Sunlight looked at Greyfuzz.</p><p>     Greyfuzz looked at Sunlight.</p><p>     There was no longer any need for conversation between them, and within the span of a heartbeat they shared an intimate understanding that their relationship had reached its end.</p><p>     Sunlight charged.</p><p>     Greyfuzz crouched down and backed away.</p><p>     When Sunlight reached his opponent, he swiped first with his left paw, claws catching Greyfuzz in the shoulder.  His next blow was a blazing strike at Greyfuzz’s muzzle that sent the powerful tom reeling back. </p><p>     Tired but undaunted, the tan tabby tom dove to one side and struck out with his back paws.  He caught the LightClan sage in the stomach, sending him tumbling over the edge toward the long drop.  Reaching into the Force, Sunlight was able to connect with the stone itself as if he were connected to it by a vine; instead of hurtling completely over the edge he slammed down onto the rock hard enough to crush all the breath from his lungs.</p><p>     Greyfuzz howled and charged.</p><p>     Sunlight still couldn’t breathe.  He had no hope of rising to meet the Tribe of Shadows tom’s next attack.</p><p>     All he could do was extend a paw.</p><p>     As Greyfuzz bore down on him, a towering stone broke off from the ledge it was attached to and toppled onto the Tribe warrior.</p><p>     Greyfuzz convulsed once, twice, then lay still as his eyes glassed over.</p><p>     Sunlight managed to drag himself away from the edge while he gasped air back into his spasming lungs.  He rolled weakly over.</p><p>     And simply enjoyed being alive.</p><p>     After a moment, he finally got back to his paws, and paused for one last glance at the body of the Tribe of Shadows tom buried beneath the broken stone.</p><p>     “So …” He summoned a condemnation among the most offensive he knew. “… <em>uncivilized</em>.”</p><p>     He activated his Force-Crystal once more and contacted Codslash, directing him to report to the LightClan Council that Greyfuzz was dead.</p><p><em>     “Will do, Sunlight,”</em> came the rogue-warrior’s voice. <em>“And congratulations.  I knew you could do it.”</em></p><p><em>     Apparently every cat did,</em> Sunlight thought, <em>except Greyfuzz, and me …</em></p><p>
  <em>     “Sunlight?  We do still have a little problem up here.  About five hundred little problems, actually.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>     “On my way, Codslash.”</em>
</p><p>     Sunlight sighed and started painfully back up the cliff.</p><p>     “All right,” he grumbled. “I suppose I should go win <em>that</em> battle, too.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Revelation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Skystalker had a feeling Violetlight was going to be either disappointed or more suspicious.</p><p>     Foxstar had hardly reacted at all.</p><p>     The leader of the Tribe of Gathering sat quietly in the middle of his den, staring distractedly at a crack in the opposite wall, and merely sighed, as though he had matters of much greater importance on his mind.</p><p>     “I’m sorry, Foxstar,” Skystalker meowed, shifting his weight. “Perhaps you didn’t hear me.  Sunlight has made contact with Greyfuzz.  His attack is already under way – they’re fighting <em>right now</em>.”</p><p>     “Yes, yes, of course, Skystalker.  Yes, quite.”  Foxstar still looked as if he was barely paying attention.  “I entirely understand your concern for your friend.  Let us hope he is up to the task.”</p><p>     “Of course he is, and it’s not just about Sunlight; taking Greyfuzz will be the final victory for the Tribe of Gathering –!”</p><p>     “Will it?”  He turned to Skystalker, and a distinctly troubled look chased the distraction from his face.  “I’m afraid, my friend, that our situation is a great deal more grave than even I had feared.  Perhaps you should sit down.”</p><p>     Skystalker didn’t move.  “What do you mean?”</p><p>     “Greyfuzz is no longer the real enemy.  Even the War of Rogues itself is now only … a distraction.”</p><p>     “What?”</p><p>     “The Council is about to make its move,” Foxstar mewed, grim and certain. “If we don’t stop them, by this time tomorrow LightClan may very well have taken over the Tribe.”</p><p>     Skystalker let out an astonished mrrow of laughter.  “But Foxstar – please, you can’t possibly <em>believe</em> that –”</p><p>     “Skystalker, I <em>know</em>.  I will be the first to be imprisoned – the first to be <em>executed</em> – but I will be far from the last.”</p><p>     Skystalker could only blink in disbelief.  “Foxstar, I know that the Council and you have … disagreements, but –”</p><p>     “This is far beyond any personal dispute between me and the members of the Council.  This is a plot <em>generations</em> in the making – a plot to take over the Tribe itself.  Skystalker, <em>think</em> – you know they don’t trust you.  They never have.  You know they have been keeping things from you.  You know they have made plans behind your back – you know that even your great friend <em>Sunlight</em> has not told you what their true intentions are …  It’s because you’re not <em>like</em> them, Skystalker – you’re <em>more</em> than just a warrior of LightClan.”</p><p>     Skystalker’s ears started to flatten as suspicion flooded his mind.  “They wouldn’t –”</p><p>
  <em>     And take careful note of his reaction.  We will need a full account.</em>
</p><p>     “You’ve already as much as admitted they’ve ordered you to spy upon me,” he mewed gently. “Don’t you understand that anything you tell them tonight – whatever it may be – will be used as an excuse to order my execution?”</p><p>     “That’s against the Clan’s code.” Skystalker’s voice held firm.  “And furthermore, the Great Gathering would never allow it –”</p><p>     “The Great Gathering will be powerless to stop it.  I told you this was bigger than any personal dislike between the Council and myself.  I am only one cat, Skystalker.  My authority is granted by the mediators; it is the Great Gathering that is the true leader of the Tribe.  Killing me is nothing; to control the Tribe, LightClan will have to take over the Great Gathering <em>first</em>.”</p><p>     “But LightClan <em>serves</em> the Great Gathering –!”</p><p>     “Does it?” Foxstar asked mildly. “Or does it serve certain <em>mediators</em>?”</p><p>     “This is all – I’m sorry, Foxstar, please, you have to understand how this <em>sounds</em> …”</p><p>     “Skystalker –” Foxstar padded to the large hole and looked outside. “Do you remember the meeting from a sunrise ago?”</p><p>     Skystalker narrowed his eyes.  “The one with the Delegation of the Two Hundred?  I remember but I don’t –”</p><p>     “No, Skystalker!  <em>No</em>!”  Foxstar spun around fast enough to make Skystalker flinch.  “It was a meeting with <em>traitors</em>.”</p><p>     Skystalker went absolutely still.  “What?”</p><p>     “There are, now, only two kinds of mediators in the Great Gathering, Skystalker.  Those who are part of this so-called <em>delegation</em>,” Foxstar meowed, “and those whom LightClan are about to <em>imprison</em>.”</p><p>     Skystalker could only stare as a piece started to fall into place in his mind.</p><p>     “Didn’t I <em>warn</em> you, Skystalker?  Didn’t I tell you what Sunlight was up to?  Why do you think he was meeting with the leaders of this … delegation … behind your <em>back</em>?”</p><p>     “All the delegation asked for was an end to the war.  Certainly it’s what LightClan wants, but more than that, it’s what we <em>all</em> want.”  His eyes narrowed.  “Isn’t it?”</p><p>     “Perhaps.  Though <em>how</em> that end comes about may be the single most important thing about the war.  More important, even, than who wins.”</p><p>     “That doesn’t seem to be what the delegation believes,” Skystalker countered.</p><p>     “Their … sincerity … may be much to be admired,” Foxstar mewed. “Or it would be, were it not that there was much more to that meeting than met the eye.”</p><p>     “What do you mean?”</p><p>     “Their … petition … was nothing of the sort.  It was, in fact, a not-so-veiled threat.”  Foxstar sighed regretfully.  “It was a show of force, Skystalker.  A demonstration of the power LightClan will be able to muster in support of their rebellion.”</p><p>     Skystalker blinked.  “I don’t think –”</p><p>     “Skystalker, we must stop pretending.  The final crisis is approaching, and our only hope to survive it is to be completely, absolutely, ruthlessly honest with each other.  And with ourselves.  You must understand that what is at stake here is nothing less than the fate of every Clan and Tribe.”</p><p>     Skystalker stared at him with narrowed eyes.  “I don’t understand.”</p><p>     “It’s quite simple, in the end: tell me what you want.”  Foxstar purred at the younger tom’s confusion.  “I know, my friend.  “You’ve been trained to never think about that.  The cats of LightClan never <em>ask</em> what you <em>want</em>.  They simply <em>tell</em> you what you’re <em>supposed</em> to want.  They never give you a choice at all.  That’s why they take these kits – these victims – at an age so young that choice is meaningless.  By the time an apprentice is old enough to <em>choose</em>, he has been so indoctrinated – so <em>brainwashed</em> – that he is incapable of even considering the question.  But you’re different, Skystalker.  You had a real life, outside of LightClan.  You can break through the fog of lies LightClan has forced into your mind.  I ask you again: what do you want?”</p><p>     “I still don’t understand.”</p><p>     “I am offering you … anything,” Foxstar mewed. “Ask, and it’s yours.  A piece of prey?  It’s yours.  An entire hunting territory?  Yours.  Look out of the hole there, Skystalker.  Pick something, and it’s yours.”</p><p>     “Is this some kind of joke?”</p><p>     “The time for jokes is past, Skystalker.  I have never been more serious.”  Within the shadow that half-covered Foxstar’s face, Skystalker could only just see the twin gleams of the ginger tom’s eyes.  “Pick something.  Anything.”</p><p>     Skystalker stared.  “What if I agreed with the Delegation of the Two Hundred?  What if I want the <em>war</em> to <em>end</em>?”</p><p>     “Would tomorrow be too soon?”</p><p>     “How –” A warning was beating in Skystalker’s mind. “How can you do that?”</p><p>     “Right now, we are only discussing <em>what</em>.  <em>How</em> is a different issue; we’ll come to that presently.  But do you understand, now?”  The twin gleams within the shadow sharpened.  “I will give you <em>anything you want</em>.”</p><p>     Skystalker’s instincts began to echo the warning.  The darkness that he sensed was beginning to come fully into focus and causing the scar over his right eye to ache.</p><p>     “And in exchange?” he asked, finally. “What do <em>I</em> have to do?”</p><p>     “You have to do what you <em>want</em>.”</p><p>     “What I want?”</p><p>     “Yes, Skystalker.  Yes.  Exactly that.  Only that.  Do the one thing that the cats of LightClan fear most: make up your <em>own</em> mind.  Follow your <em>own</em> conscience.  Do what <em>you</em> think is right.  I know that you’ve been longing for a life greater than that of an ordinary warrior.  <em>Commit</em> to that life.  You have dreamed of leaving LightClan, having a family of your own – one that is based on <em>love</em>, not on enforced rules of self-denial.”</p><p>     Skystalker didn’t dare breathe.</p><p>     He didn’t dare blink.</p><p>     He held himself perfectly still, eyes locked on the cat across from him.</p><p>     “You can have every one of your dreams.  Turn aside from the lies of LightClan, and follow the truth of yourself.  Leave them.  Join me on the path of true power.  Be my friend, Skystalker.  Be my <em>apprentice</em>.”</p><p>     The final pieces moved.  Just a whisker apart.</p><p>     “Darkplague,” he stated. “Was it really a myth?”</p><p>     The shadow leaned close.  “No.  Darkplague <em>was</em> real.”</p><p>     And the last pieces fell into place.</p><p>     “Darkplague was my mentor.  He taught me the secret of his power,” the shadow stated, dryly matter-of-fact, “before I killed him.”</p><p>     Skystalker’s Force-Crystal and right fore-claws blazed blue without any transition of realization or understanding. </p><p>     Because everything suddenly made sense.</p><p>     “You,” he hissed. “It’s been <em>you</em> all along!”</p><p>     In the mixture of blue fire and fading sunlight he stared into the face of a cat whose features were as familiar to him as his own, but now seemed as strange as a Twoleg’s – because now he finally understood that those familiar features were only a ruse.</p><p>     He had never seen this tom’s real face.</p><p>     Foxstar gave him that wise, kindly look Skystalker had been seeing since his training started.  “Why are you so angry?”</p><p>     “You’re the <em>true</em> <em>leader</em> of <em>DarkClan</em>.”</p><p>     “I am,” he mewed simply. “I am also your friend.”</p><p>     Blue eyes, one sightless, one not, narrowed.</p><p>     “I am also the father of four sons who are also your friends.  I am the cat who wants nothing more from my kits or, indeed, from you but that you follow your conscience.  If that conscience requires you to kill me over a … philosophical difference … I will not resist.”</p><p>     His head tilted a bit.  “Skystalker, when I told you that you can have anything you want, did you think I was excluding my life?”</p><p>     Suspicion filled Skystalker’s gaze.  “Do your sons know?  Or your mate?”</p><p>     “No,” Foxstar mewed gently. “My older sons cannot feel the Force nor can their mother, so how could they possibly understand?  Smokekit can but, alas, he is still a kit and far too young to comprehend it.  What else was I to do but keep my skills a secret?”</p><p>     His voice was casual.  Ordinary.</p><p>     As though nothing had happened.</p><p>     As though nothing had changed.</p><p>     “Corruption had made the Tribe of Gathering a sickness in the heart of the Clans, and no cat could cure it; not the Clans, not the Great Gathering, not even LightClan itself.  I was the only cat strong and skilled enough for this task; I was the only cat who dared even <em>attempt</em> it.  Without my small deception, how should I have cured the Tribe?  Had I revealed myself to you, or to any other cat, LightClan would have hunted me down and murdered me without trial.”</p><p>     “<em>Small</em> deception?” Skystalker repeated.</p><p>     He rose, moving closer to the younger tom.  “If only you could know how I have longed to tell you, Skystalker.  All these moons – since the very sunrise we met, my friend.  I have watched over you as though you were one of my own kits, waiting as you grew in strength and wisdom, biding my time until now, this very sunrise, when you are finally ready to understand who you truly are, and your true place in the history of the Clans: you <em>are</em> the chosen one.”  He gazed at Skystalker with clear eyes.  Steady.  Utterly honest.  “Chosen by <em>me</em>.”</p><p>     Skystalker stiffened.</p><p>     Foxstar leaned close, purring, warm and kindly.  “Skystalker, do you think DarkClan did not know of this prophecy of the chosen one?  Do you think we would simply sleep while it came to pass?  This is what you must understand.  This LightClan submission to fate … this is not the way of DarkClan, Skystalker.  This is not my way.  This is not your way.  It has never been.  It need never be.”</p><p>     “I am <em>not</em> …,” Skystalker growled, “… on your side.  Not like this.”</p><p>     “Are you sure?  I am bringing peace to all cats.  Is that wrong?  I am offering you the power to keep every cat you love safe.  Is that evil?  Have I attacked you?  Are you being tortured?  My friend, I am <em>asking</em> you.  I am asking you to <em>do the right thing</em>.  Turn your back on treason.  On all those who would harm the Tribe of Gathering.  I’m asking you to do exactly what you have sworn to do: bring peace and justice to all cats.  And keep Berryheart and your brother safe, of course – haven’t you sworn to protect <em>them</em>, too …?”</p><p>     Skystalker deactivated his Force-Crystal, but he stood firm.  “I won’t kill you, but I <em>will</em> turn you over to the Council – they will know what to do.”</p><p>     “I’m sure they will.  They are already planning to overthrow the Tribe of Gathering; you’ll give them exactly the excuse they’re looking for.  And when they come to execute me, will that be justice?  Will they be bringing <em>peace</em>?”</p><p>     “Killing a cat without trial is against our code.  They <em>wouldn’t</em> –”</p><p>     “Well, of course I hope you’re correct, Skystalker.  You’ll forgive me if I don’t share your blind loyalty to your Clanmates.  I suppose it does indeed come down, in the end, to a question of loyalty,” he mewed thoughtfully. “That’s what you must ask yourself, my friend.  Whether your loyalty is to LightClan, or to the Tribe of Gathering.”</p><p>     “Whoever said I can’t be loyal to both?”</p><p>     Foxstar flicked an ear.  “Perhaps you can.  Perhaps it’s simply a question of whether you love Sunlight more than you love Goldpelt and Berryheart.  Take your time.  Meditate on it.  I will still be here when you decide.”</p><p>     Skystalker regarded him with a long look.  “I am a warrior of LightClan and sworn defender of the Tribe of Gathering.  And I know for <em>myself</em> what I must do.”</p><p> </p><p>     Violetlight stood in the darkening Council Chamber, facing a glowing image of Lightstar, using the connection between a Starstone piece in the chamber and the Starstone that belonged to the Tribe of Windy Trees.</p><p>     “Heartbeats ago,” Violetlight meowed, “we received confirmation from Codslash: Sunlight was successful.  Greyfuzz is dead.”</p><p>     “Time it is to execute our plan.”</p><p>     “I will personally deliver the news of Greyfuzz’s death.”  Violetlight unsheathed and sheathed his claws.  “It will be up to Foxstar to cede his emergency duties back over to the Great Gathering.”</p><p>     “Forget not the existence of Darkshadow.  Anticipate your action, he may.  Sages will be necessary, if the leader of DarkClan you must face.”</p><p>     “I have chosen four of our best.  Tinlight, Brownlight, and Streamlight are all here, at camp.  They are preparing already.”</p><p>     “What about Skystalker?  The chosen one?”</p><p>     “Too much of a risk,” Violetlight replied. “I am the fourth.”</p><p>     With a slow blink of his eyes and an even slower dip of his head, Lightstar mewed, “On watch you have been too long, my old apprentice.  Rest you must.”</p><p>     “I will, Lightstar.  When the Tribe of Gathering is safe once more.”  Violetlight straightened.  “We are only waiting for your permission.”</p><p>     “Very well, then.  Have my permission, you do.  May the Force be with you.”</p><p>     “And with you, Lightstar.”</p><p>     But he uttered this to empty air; the image had already flickered to nonexistence.</p><p>     Violetlight lowered his head and stood in the silence and growing darkness.</p><p>     A figure hurried into the chamber, the fading light setting light brown fur aflame.</p><p>     “Violetlight!”  The voice was an urgent hiss.</p><p>     “Skystalker?”  Violetlight was at his side in a heartbeat.  “What’s wrong?  Are you hurt?”</p><p>     “No,” Skystalker replied immediately. “Not physically.  Has Sunlight contacted yet?”</p><p>     “Yes; he has killed Greyfuzz.  We are leaving now to tell Foxstar, and to see to it that he steps down as he has promised –”</p><p>     “Steps <em>down</em> –” Skystalker’s voice had a sharply bitter edge. “You have no <em>idea</em> …”</p><p>     “Skystalker –?  What’s wrong?”</p><p>     Skystalker paced back and forth in front of the deputy, too restless to sit.</p><p>     Violetlight reached into the Force, opening the eye of his special gift of perception –</p><p>     What he found there froze his blood.</p><p>     The tangled web of fault lines in the Force he had seen connecting Skystalker to Sunlight and to Foxstar was no more; in their place was a pair of spider-knots that sang with power enough to shred the world.  Skystalker didn’t merely have a shatterpoint.  He <em>was</em> a shatterpoint.</p><p><em>     The</em> shatterpoint.</p><p>     Everything depended on him.</p><p><em>     Everything</em>.</p><p>     Violetlight moved slowly, with the same sort of deliberate care he would use in examining a sleeping fox.  “Skystalker, look at me.”</p><p>     Skystalker paused and looked at him.</p><p>     “What is wrong?”</p><p>     Skystalker finally took a deep breath.  “Violetlight, I have … bad news.”</p><p>     Violetlight stared at him.</p><p>     “Bad news?” he repeated blankly.</p><p>     What news could be bad enough to rattle a warrior like Skystalker?</p><p>     Then, in a slow and carefully tempered voice, Skystalker told him.</p><p> </p><p>     The <em>bad news</em> made Violetlight freeze in his tracks.</p><p>     He was a cat known for many things; his countless victories in battle, and the numberless battles his diplomacy had avoided; his penetrating intellect, his talents with the Force, and his unmatched skills in battle; his dedication to LightClan, and his devotion to the Tribe of Gathering.</p><p>     But there was one defining trait that Violetlight never uttered to any cat.</p><p>     Violetlight had an <em>attachment</em> of his own.</p><p>     Violetlight loved the Tribe of Gathering.</p><p>     Many of his former apprentices quoted him to their own apprentices: <em>“LightClan cats do not fight for peace.  That’s only a slogan, and is as misleading as slogans always are.  LightClan cats fight for <strong>civilization</strong>, because only civilization <strong>creates</strong> peace.”</em></p><p>     For Violetlight, for all his life, for all the lives of thousands of seasons of LightClan cats before him, true civilization had only one true name: the Tribe of Gathering.</p><p>     He’d given his life in the service of his love.  He’d taken lives in its service, and lost the lives of innocents.  He’d seen cats that he cared for maimed, and killed, and sometimes worse: sometimes so broken by the horror of the struggle that their only answer was to commit horrors greater still.</p><p>     And because of that love, Skystalker’s news shredded his heart, burned its pieces, and fed him its smoking ashes.</p><p>     “Foxstar is Darkshadow.  <em>The</em> <em>Tribe’s</em> leader is <em>DarkClan’s</em> leader.”</p><p>     He didn’t even hear the exact statement, not really; it’s true meaning was too large for his mind to gather in all at once.</p><p>     It meant that all he’d done, and all that had been done to him –</p><p>     That all his Clan had accomplished, all it had suffered –</p><p>     All the Clans and Tribes <em>themselves</em> had gone through, all the moons of suffering and slaughter –</p><p>     Had all been for nothing.</p><p>     Because it was all done to save the Tribe of Gathering.</p><p>     Which was already gone.</p><p>     Which had already fallen.</p><p>     The corpse of which had been defended only by a LightClan that was now under the command of a DarkClan cat.</p><p>     Violetlight’s entire existence had become crystal so shot-through with flaws that that the blow of that statement had crushed him to sand.</p><p>     But because he was Violetlight, he took the blow without a change of expression.</p><p>     Because he was Violetlight, within a heartbeat the cat of sand was stone once more: pure LightClan deputy, weighing coldly the risk of facing the last leader of DarkClan without the chosen one –</p><p>     Against the risk of facing the last leader of DarkClan with a chosen one who he now could see was exhausted.</p><p>     And because he was Violetlight, the choice was no choice at all.</p><p>     “Skystalker, wait in the Chamber of History until we get back.”</p><p>     “Yes, Violetlight,” Skystalker mewed immediately. “But what are you going to <em>do</em> with him?”</p><p>     And it was the true measure of Violetlight that he was still telling the truth as he answered, “Only as much as I have to.”</p><p>     As Skystalker hurried out, Violetlight connected to Lightstar through their Force-Crystals.</p><p>     Now they knew the truth.</p><p>     For more than eight seasons, the Tribe of Gathering had been on the paws of DarkClan.</p><p>     Now, together, the leader and deputy of LightClan decided to take it back.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>You'll notice that I upped the chapter count by one.  All will make sense further along...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. The Face of the Shadow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry this was late.  My beta reader went out-of-town over the weekend and only just now looked it over.  Hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Hazy moonlight faintly illuminated the inside of the chamber that belonged to the leader of the Tribe of Gathering.</p><p>     Within the shadows of the room sat another shadow: deeper, darker, formless and impenetrable, an abyssal shadow so profound that it drained light from the chamber around it.</p><p>     And from the entire Gathering Place.</p><p>     And the world.</p><p>     The shadow waited.  It had told the warrior it would.  It was looking forward to keeping its word.</p><p>     For a change.</p><p> </p><p>     Night held the LightClan camp.</p><p>     Just inside the entrance, moonlight spilled across the stones, reflecting upward onto the faces of three sages.</p><p>     “I’d feel better if Lightstar were here.”  This sage was a blue and white tom, tall and broad-shouldered, his tail twitching nervously.  “Or even Sunlight.  In the mountains, Sunlight and I –”</p><p>     “Lightstar is pinned down in Tribe of Windy Trees territory, and Sunlight is out of contact in StoneClan territory.  The DarkClan leader has revealed himself, and we dare not hesitate.  Think not of <em>if</em>, Streamlight; this duty has fallen to us.  We will suffice.”  This sage was a grey tom, shorter and slimmer than the first.  His tail had been half-bitten off by a badger three moons before.  “We will suffice,” he repeated. “We will have to.”</p><p>     “Peace,” mewed the third sage, a brown tabby tom.  Dew had gathered on his whiskers and the edge of his fur.  He gestured toward the ruin opening with his tail.  “Violetlight is coming.”</p><p>     Clouds had swept in with the twilight, and now a thin drizzling rain began to fall.  The approaching tom walked with his head down, his eyes determined.</p><p>     “Maplelight and Stonelight will direct the camp’s defense,” he mewed as he reached the others. “We have a few warriors running frequent patrols, and every cat is on alert.”  His gaze swept the sages.  “It’s time to go.”</p><p>     “And Skystalker?”  The brown tabby sage tilted his head as though he felt a distant disturbance in the Force.  “What of the chosen one?”</p><p>     “I have sent him to the Chamber of History to rest until our return.”  Violetlight turned a grim stare upon the ruin, squinting against the thickening rain.  The violet Force-Crystal attached to his right fore-leg glistened in the moonlight.</p><p>     “He has done his duty, and earned a rest.  Now we shall do ours.”</p><p>     He walked between them and down the hill.</p><p>     The other three sages shared a significant silence, then Brownlight flicked an ear decisively and followed; Tinlight tapped his stubby tail against the ground, and hurried after.</p><p>     “I’d <em>still</em> feel better if Lightstar were here …,” Streamlight muttered, and then headed down as well.</p><p> </p><p>     Within the Chamber of History, Skystalker played with Frogkit.</p><p>     He was dragging his tail along the ground and Frogkit was attempting to pounce on it.</p><p>     He couldn’t remember the last time he’d truly felt relaxed.  He did his best to concentrate entirely on the game, trying to keep his mind off of what was about to happen with Foxstar.  After all, he had done his duty, and Violetlight was the greatest warrior in LightClan.</p><p>     What did he have to be nervous about?</p><p>     As he pretended not to notice Frogkit’s next attempt, as he looked up at the images on the walls of the chamber –</p><p>     Everything faded away.</p><p>     His ears were filled with wails of pain and fear; his pelt felt burnt and his paws sticky with blood and dirt, and when he dared to look …</p><p>     The LightClan camp was filled with the still bodies of his Clanmates.</p><p>     “Skystalker?”</p><p>     He blinked away the horrifying images and looked down at the puzzled kit.</p><p>     “What’s wrong?” Frogkit squeaked. “I didn’t bite you too hard, did I?”</p><p>     Skystalker shook himself hard.  “No, no you didn’t.  I just –” He drew a shaky breath, then scrambled to his paws as a sudden chill raced through him, the Force hissing a warning in his ears.  “I need to find someone.”</p><p>     He raced out of the Chamber with Frogkit scrambling to keep up.  Hearing the patter of tiny paws behind him impressed on him the importance of this moment.  His Force-vision, because what else could it have been, was clear: something terrible was about to happen, and something worse would happen if he didn’t do <em>something</em>.</p><p>     Foxstar was wrong about a lot of things, but he was right about one.</p><p>     It <em>was</em> simple.</p><p>     All he had to decide was what he wanted.</p><p> </p><p>     Nightfall was spreading through the world.</p><p>     The darkness in the Force was no hinderance to the shadow in the Tribe leader’s den; it <em>was</em> the darkness.  Wherever darkness dwelled, the shadow could send perception.</p><p>     In the night, the shadow felt the warrior’s anguish, and it was good.  The shadow felt the grim determination of four LightClan sages approaching.</p><p>     This, too, was good.</p><p>     As the LightClan cats entered the ruin, the shadow sent its mind into the far deeper night within one of the several oddly-shaped stones that graced the chamber: a strange twist of shining stone carved by some long-dead Twoleg.  Under the eye of the average cat, the Twoleg-thing could be seen as completely solid stone.</p><p>     The average cat would be wrong.  The stone was not entirely solid.</p><p>     Within a small, almost indiscernible, hollow at the base rested an object that had lain, waiting, in absolute darkness – darkness beyond darkness – for seasons.</p><p>     Waiting for night to fall on the Tribe of Gathering.</p><p>     The shadow felt sages stride the vast echoic emptiness of the high tunnels outside.  It could practically hear the cadence of their paw-steps on the stone ground.</p><p>     The darkness within the shaped stone hissed of the shape and the feel and every intimate resonance of the object wrapped within it.  With a twist of its will, the shadow summoned the object.</p><p>     A blur of red, bright as a flame, brightened the chamber, then the red glow vanished and the object slid itself within the softer darkness of a pile of moss.</p><p>     As howls of the Force scattered guards beyond the den’s entrance, the shadow gathered its strength.  As LightClan cats stalked in, the shadow stepped into the moonlight.</p><p>     By all appearances, perfectly innocent.</p><p>     “Why, Violetlight,” greeted the shadow. “What a pleasant surprise.”</p><p> </p><p>     Deep in conversation with Mantisheart, Maplelight felt him coming before she could see him.  The two she-cats and their apprentices turned as he rounded the corner to the camp entrance, followed by the Clan’s youngest member.</p><p>     He neither looked nor sounded good; his eyes were wide with fear, and his breath was like a pile of gravel.</p><p>     “Skystalker,” Maplelight meowed warmly.  Perhaps a friendly statement was what he needed; she doubted he’d gotten any from Violetlight.  “Thank you for what you have done.  LightClan is in your debt – the whole world, as well.”</p><p>     “Maplelight.  Don’t thank me yet.”</p><p>     Shaky as he looked, there was nothing unsteady in his voice: it was deeper than she remembered, more mature, and it carried undertones of authority that she had never heard before.</p><p>     And she was not blind to the look of sudden understanding from Mantisheart.</p><p>     The younger she-cat stepped forward.  “What’s wrong?” Mantisheart asked. “A vision?”</p><p>     “Yes,” he replied.  His eyes were darting about and his ears twisted this way and that.  Searching for something.  “I need to leave.  Could one of you take charge of Frogkit?”</p><p>     Maplelight blinked.  “If Foxstar retaliates,” she mewed reasonably, “is not your place here, to help with our defense?”</p><p>     “Under normal circumstance I would agree with you,” he answered. “But I fear we are out of time, and there is something I have to do.  Something I can’t do from here.”</p><p>     Maplelight looked over at Mantisheart.  The warrior dipped her head, then turned to Skystalker.  “Trillpaw and I can take Frogkit to the nursery –”</p><p>     “No,” he meowed immediately. “With your permission, Maplelight, you should take all of the kits to the Council chamber.  Keep them in there until it’s safe.  I’ll return as soon as I can.”</p><p>     “Skystalker, why?” Maplelight protested. “Those who went are the best in the Clan.  What can you possibly do?”</p><p>     “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I’m the <em>chosen one</em>, right?  I need to –”</p><p>     He looked at her with a grim gleam that even the blindness in his right eye couldn’t hide, and a spasm of unbearable pain passed over his face.</p><p>     “I need to do <em>something</em>.  Before it’s too late,” he mewed, and raced into the night and the rain.</p><p> </p><p>     Foxstar’s eyes showed nothing but innocence, but Violetlight wasn’t fooled.  He could sense the truth now.</p><p>     “Why, Violetlight.  What a pleasant surprise.”</p><p>     “Hardly a surprise, Foxstar,” Violetlight replied. “And it will be pleasant for neither of us.  Or perhaps you prefer <em>Darkshadow</em>?”</p><p>     “I’m sorry?”  Foxstar turned his attention briefly to the other three.  “Streamlight, hello.  Brownlight, greetings.  I trust you are well.  Tinlight – I see your tail has healed; I’m very glad.  What brings four sages to my den this late?  Is Greyfuzz already dead?  I must say, you’re here sooner than expected.”</p><p>     Brownlight and Tinlight prowled to either side of Foxstar, blocking the tom’s path.  Shadows dripped and oozed color, weaving and coiling up the den walls, spreading along the ground.”</p><p>     Violetlight rose to his full height and activated his Force-Crystal.  “You are going to come with us.  And you can stop with the lies now.  There’s no one around that you can fool.”</p><p>     He didn’t need to look to know that his Clanmates had activated their own.</p><p>     Foxstar’s eyes narrowed.  “Are you threatening me, Violetlight?”</p><p>     “The Tribe of Gathering will decide your fate.”</p><p>     “I <em>am</em> the Tribe of Gathering!” Foxstar snarled.  All sign of innocence vanished in a heartbeat.</p><p>     “Not yet!” Violetlight hissed.</p><p>     Foxstar lifted his tail and his eyes blazed.  “It’s treason, then.”</p><p>     There was a flash the color of blood, then Foxstar moved, little more than a fiery blur.  First Tinlight, then Brownlight, fell lifeless to the ground.</p><p>     Foxstar turned and lifted his right paw, appearing to study the glowing claws and the red Force-Crystal as one might study the face of a beloved friend one has long thought dead.  Power gathered around him until the Force shimmered with darkness.</p><p>     “If only you knew,” he hissed softly, perhaps addressing the LightClan cats, or perhaps himself, or perhaps to the scarlet Force-Crystal as he shifted into a fighting crouch, “how long I have been waiting for this …”</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker bolted through the rain, dodging what few cats were outside.  He ignored the cold seeping into his pelt, the droplets stinging his eye, the water in his ears.  None of it mattered to him.  Because ahead, one of the high openings of the Twoleg-ruin that served as Foxstar’s den spat lightning into the rain to echo the lightning of the storm outside – but this lightning was the color of clashing Force-Energy.</p><p>     Green flashes, blurs of violet –</p><p>     And crimson flame.</p><p>     He was too late.</p><p>     The green fire faded and blinked out; now the lightning was only violet and red.</p><p>     He pushed himself harder, flying through the entrance.  He blinked the water from his eye as he hurried up the familiar route to Foxstar’s den.  As he reached the top and paused to catch his breath, a blast of lightning flashed outside, temporarily blinding his good eye; he blinked furiously, pawing at his eye in a panic.</p><p>     The colorless glare inside his eye faded slowly, bringing into focus a jumble of bodies on the ground in the main chamber.</p><p>     Bodies he recognized all too well.</p><p>     He paused beside each one for a moment.  Brownlight and Tinlight lay closer together, and he guessed that they had taken the first attack.  Streamlight’s body lay twisted a foxlength away.  As Skystalker stood over him, he remembered the blue and white tom in the Battle of Stone-Place, effortlessly battling his way through wave after wave of rogues, almost purring with delight at the feeling.</p><p>     He would never do so again.</p><p>     Skystalker shook himself and cast out his senses to find the remaining fighters.  Darting back into the tunnel he spotted an opening that flashed and flared with energy.</p><p>     He raced to the opening and skidded to a stop.</p><p>     Within the meeting chamber of the leader of the Tribe of Gathering, a last sage battled alone, claw-to-claw, against a living shadow.</p><p> </p><p>     Sinking deep into the Force, Violetlight fought for his life.</p><p>     More than his life: each slash of claws and crash of lightning was a strike in defense of freedom, of justice and peace, of the rights of ordinary cats to live their own lives in their own ways.</p><p>     He was fighting for the Tribe that he loved.</p><p>     Violetlight fought like no other LightClan cat could.  Like an angry asp, he moved almost too fast to see.  Aggressive and powerful, but his battle-form came at great risk: immersing himself so thoroughly in the fight, even <em>enjoying</em> it, he had to walk the line that separated the dark side from the light.</p><p>     The greatest warrior in LightClan, Violetlight was the only cat capable of this.</p><p>     This battle was his ultimate test.</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker blinked and rubbed his eye again.  Maybe he was seeing things – the LightClan deputy seemed to be fading in and out of existence, half swallowed by a thickening black haze in which danced flashes of fire.  Violetlight pressed back the darkness with a relentless direct charge; his right fore-claws, that distinctive violet blaze that had been the final sight of so many evil cats across the world, made a haze of its own: a ball of violet fire within which there seemed to be dozens of claws slashing in all directions at once.</p><p>     The shadow he fought, that blur of speed – could that be <em>Foxstar</em>?</p><p>     Their Force-Crystals flared and flashed as the combatants crashed together with bursts of fire, weaving webs of killing energy in exchanges so fast that Skystalker could not truly see them –</p><p>     But he could feel them in the Force.</p><p>     The Force itself roiled and burst and crashed around them, boiling with power and swift ricochets of lethal intent.</p><p>     And it was darkening.</p><p>     Skystalker could feel how the Force fed upon the shadow’s murderous exaltation; he could feel fury spray into the Force though some poisonous abscess had crested in both their hearts.</p><p>     There was no LightClan restraint here.</p><p>     Violetlight was letting himself loose.</p><p> </p><p>     Violetlight was in it now: submerged in the Force, swallowed by it, he no longer truly existed as an independent being.</p><p>     His battle tactics were a channel for darkness, and that darkness flowed both ways.  He accepted the furious speed of the DarkClan cat, drew the shadow’s rage and power into his inmost center –</p><p>     And let it fountain out again.</p><p>     He reflected the fury upon its source as a pool of clear water reflects sunlight.</p><p>     There was a time when Violetlight had feared the power of the dark; there was a time when he had feared the darkness in himself.  But the War of Rogues had given him a gift of understanding: in the depths of an icy cavern, he had faced his darkness and had learned that the power of darkness was not to be feared.</p><p>     He had learned that it was fear that gave the darkness power.</p><p>     He was not afraid.  The darkness had no power over him.  But –</p><p>     Neither did <em>he</em> have power over <em>it</em>.</p><p>     He became an open tunnel, half of a loop completed by the shadow; they became a standing wave of battle that expanded into every crack of the chamber.  There was no tuft of fur nor piece of stone that might not at any moment be destroyed in flares of red or violet.  There was only the cycle of power, the endless loop, no wound taken on either side, not even the possibility of fatigue.</p><p>     Impasse.</p><p>     Yet even so he could feel the end of the battle approaching, and so could the DarkClan blur he faced; in the Force, the shadow had become a pulsar of fear.  Easily, almost effortlessly, he turned the shadow’s fear against it: he angled the battle to bring them both out onto an open ledge.</p><p>     Out in the wind.  Out with the lightning.  Out on a rain-slicked ledge above a ten tree-lengths drop.</p><p>     Out where the shadow’s fear made it hesitate.  Out where the shadow’s fear turned some of its Force-powered speed into a Force-powered grip on the slippery stone.</p><p>     Out where Violetlight could flick his paw in one precise strike and slash the shadow’s Force-Crystal in half.</p><p>     One piece flipped back in through the opening.  The other tumbled from its broken vine, rolled from the ledge, and fell through the rain toward the distant ground below.</p><p>     Now the shadow was only Foxstar: old and worn, slumped with exhaustion.</p><p>     It was only then that Violetlight became dimly aware of the presence approaching from the other side of the chamber.  He had no need to look; the presence in the Force was familiar, and was uplifting as sunlight breaking through a thick cloud.</p><p>     The chosen one was here.</p><p>     Violetlight’s focus was solely on the tom crouched before him.  “For all your power, you are no LightClan warrior.  All you are,” Violetlight meowed evenly, staring down at the ginger tom, “is finished.”</p><p>     “Do you see, Skystalker?  Do you?”  Foxstar’s voice once again had the broken cadence of a frightened old tom’s.  “Didn’t I warn you of LightClan and its treason?”</p><p>     “Save your twisted words.  There are no mediators here.  DarkClan will never regain control of the Tribe of Gathering.  It’s over.  You’ve lost.”  Violetlight glared levelly.  “You lost for the same reason DarkClan always loses: defeated by your own fear.”</p><p>     Foxstar lifted his head.</p><p>     His eyes smoked with hate.</p><p>     “Mouse-brain,” he hissed.</p><p>     He lifted a paw, his claws extended.</p><p>     “<em>Mouse-brain</em>!”  His voice was a snarl of thunder.  “Do you think the fear you feel is <em>mine</em>?”</p><p>     Lightning shattered the clouds above, and lightning flashed from Foxstar’s paw, and Violetlight didn’t have time to comprehend what Foxstar meant; he had time only to slip back into the Force and angle his Force-imbued claws to catch the forking arcs of pure, dazzling hatred that clawed toward him.</p><p>     A tunnel once again, power passed into him and out again without touching him.</p><p>     And the energy turned back into itself: the lightning reflected back to its source.</p><p>     Foxstar staggered, snarling, but the blistering energy that poured from his paw only intensified.</p><p>     He fed the power with his pain.</p><p>     “Skystalker!” Violetlight called.  His voice sounded distant, blurred, as if it came from the bottom of a lake.  “Skystalker, help me!  This is your chance!”</p><p>     He felt Skystalker rush toward him –</p><p>     And Foxstar was not afraid.</p><p>     Violetlight could feel it: he wasn’t worried at all.</p><p>     “Destroy this traitor,” the ginger tom yowled over the howl of writhing energy that joined his paw to Violetlight’s claws. “This was never a capture.  It’s an <em>assassination</em>!”</p><p>     That was when Violetlight finally understood.  <em>Foxstar trusts Skystalker …</em> Violetlight thought, blankly astonished.</p><p>     Skystalker was struggling to reach them, the energy so vast that it pushed against him.  Foxstar sent more lightning against Violetlight’s claws, pushing them back toward the LightClan deputy’s face.</p><p>     Foxstar’s eyes glowed with power, casting a yellow glare that burned back the rain from around them.  “He is a traitor, Skystalker.  Destroy him.”</p><p>     “You’re the chosen one, Skystalker,” Violetlight hissed, his voice going thin with strain. “Take him.  It’s your <em>destiny</em>.”</p><p>     Skystalker called back desperately, “I’m trying …”</p><p>     “Help me!  I can’t hold on any longer!”  The yellow glare from Foxstar’s eyes spread outward through his flesh.  His pelt rippled like water, as though everything was beginning to burn away, deforming from the heat and pressure of his burning hatred.  “He is <em>killing</em> me, Skystalker –!  Please –”</p><p>     Violetlight’s paw pressed so close to his face that he was choking on the burning smell.  “Skystalker, he’s too <em>strong</em> for me –”</p><p>     Foxstar’s howl above the endless blast of lightning became a fading moan of despair.</p><p>     The lightning swallowed itself, leaving only the night and the rain, and an old tom crumpled to the ground on a slippery ledge.</p><p>     “I … can’t.  I give up.  I … I am too weak, in the end.  Too old, and too weak.  I …”</p><p>     Foxstar’s body went limp, and the LightClan cats knew that he was losing a life.</p><p>     Victory flooded through Violetlight’s aching body.  “Did he tell you how many lives he has left?”</p><p>     Skystalker, freed of the energy, moved to Violetlight’s shoulder.  “He’s losing his sixth, as I recall –” A horrifying thought suddenly entered Skystalker’s mind. “You’re going to keep killing him?”</p><p>     The gleam in the deputy’s eyes told the young tom everything.</p><p>     “<em>Wait</em> –” Skystalker protested. “You can’t just <em>do</em> that, Violetlight –”</p><p>     “Yes, I can,” Violetlight growled, grim and certain. “I have to.”</p><p>     “You came to <em>capture</em> him.  He has to face <em>judgement</em> –”</p><p>     “Judgement would be an impossibility.  He controls the Great Gathering –”</p><p>     “So are you going to kill all of <em>them</em>, too?  Like <em>he</em> said you would?”</p><p>     Violetlight turned on him with a snarl.  “He’s too dangerous to be left alive.  If you could have taken <em>Darkbird</em> alive, would you have?”</p><p>     Skystalker’s voice was steady and certain.  “Without a doubt.  Because I am a <em>LightClan</em> warrior.  We have a code that separates us from DarkClan.  Does that mean nothing?”</p><p>     Violetlight regarded the tom before him.  Skystalker stood solemn yet firm before him.  Where was the reckless kit he remembered?  The apprentice who often ran his mentor to distraction?  The warrior before him bore no signs of either.  In that moment, Violetlight was reminded of Moonlight, the sage who had found young Skystalker all those moons ago; the sage who would have undoubtably been proud of the warrior he had become.</p><p>     The moment vanished with a sudden warning from the Force.</p><p>     The pair had been so intent on each other they failed to notice when Foxstar woke.  The ginger tom roared back to his paws and lightning lashed from both forepaws and without blazing claws to catch it, the power of Foxstar’s hate struck Violetlight full-on.</p><p>     The last thing the deputy saw before he fell was the abject horror on Skystalker’s face.</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker stared out into the rain.</p><p>     He was looking at a still, burnt body.  The body was dark brown.  The body had a violet Force-Crystal attached to its right foreleg.  The body was surrounded by a pool of its own blood, washing away in the rain.</p><p>     “I didn’t want this.”</p><p>     Was that his voice?  It must have been.  Because it was his statement.</p><p>     Something drew near his shoulder.</p><p>     “I know you didn’t,” mewed a familiar voice. “But LightClan cats are traitors.  You saved the Tribe from their treachery.  You can see that, can’t you?”</p><p>     “I didn’t want him to die,” Skystalker heard himself moan. “I only wanted to remind him who we <em>are</em>.”</p><p>     “I know you tried but there simply was no use.  They deceived you, my young friend.  Because they feared your power, they could never trust you.”</p><p>     Skystalker knew that he should turn around.  That he should extend his own claws and strike down the voice.  His vision echoed in his mind.  What if he attempted only to fall like Violetlight and the others?  What use would he be to his Clan then?</p><p>     The voice drew closer.  “<em>I</em> do not fear your power, Skystalker, I <em>embrace</em> it.  You are the greatest of LightClan.  You can be the greatest of DarkClan.  I believe that, Skystalker.  I believe in you.  <em>I trust you</em>.”</p><p>     Finally Skystalker looked from the dead cat far below to the living one that stood behind him, and what he saw choked him like an invisible paw crushing his throat.</p><p>     The eyes were cold and sickly, and they gleamed like those of a fox lurking beyond a shaft of moonlight; the skin around those feral eyes lacked fur, patches that streaked across the rest of the face, down the chest and shoulders, and down the right foreleg.</p><p>     Filled with horror, filled with revulsion, Skystalker forced himself to just stare at the creature.  At the shadow.</p><p>     Looking into the face of the darkness, he saw the choice before him.</p><p>     And he knew which he needed to take for the survival of his Clan.</p><p>     He only hoped StarClan would forgive him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Orders and Deception</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is probably the longest chapter I've written to date.  I am very sorry.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Skystalker stood just within the chamber.  Motionless.</p><p>     The older tom examined the damage to his face in a reflective surface.</p><p>     “And so what was hidden comes to the surface,” the DarkClan tom sighed with a hint of philosophical melancholy. “I shall miss the face of Foxstar, I think; but for our purpose, the face of Darkshadow will serve.  Yes, it will serve.”</p><p>     He turned back to the unresponsive Skystalker.  “You must learn to cast off the petty restraints that LightClan have tried to place upon your power,” he mewed. “Skystalker, it’s time.  I need you to help me restore order to the Clans.”</p><p><em>     No,</em> Skystalker thought. <em>You want me to submit them to <strong>your</strong> will.</em>  But he buried the thought deep, not wanting Darkshadow to catch it.</p><p>     Darkshadow mewed, “Join me.  Pledge yourself to DarkClan.  Become my apprentice.  Help me stop the rest of the traitors before they attempt another strike.”</p><p>     Skystalker knew he couldn’t stay silent for long.  He fought down his instinct to attack, shaking with the effort.</p><p>     “I – came to make sure the LightClan code stayed unbroken.  Not to betray it –”</p><p>     Darkshadow huffed.  “Do you still think they would show the same respect?”</p><p>     Skystalker held his tongue.</p><p>     Darkshadow sat down in front Skystalker with his head lowered, tail curled around his paws, the way he always had when offering Skystalker what <em>he</em> considered advice; the misshapen horror of his face made the familiarity of his posture into something monstrous.  “Do you think that killing one traitor will end treason?  Do you think LightClan will ever stop until I am dead, regardless of their code?”</p><p>     Skystalker stuck a considering expression on his face as he searched his mind for the exact path he needed to take.  “It’s just – it’s not … easy, that’s all.  I have – I’ve been a LightClan cat for so long –”</p><p>     Darkshadow offered an appalling purr.  “There is a place within you, my friend, a place as briskly clean as ice on a mountaintop, cool and remote.  Find that high place, and look down within yourself; breathe that clean, icy air as you regard your guilt and your shame.  Do not deny them; observe them.  Take your horror in your paws and look at it.  Examine it as a phenomenon.  Smell it.  Taste it.  Come to know it as only you can, for it is yours, and it is precious.”</p><p>     As the shadow before him described this place, Skystalker found it.  But when he looked, he found something that Darkshadow likely never expected him to: he found the answer to his Force-vision.  He saw how some of his Clanmates might survive. </p><p>     He needed only one cat to see it through.</p><p>     “You have found it, my young friend: I can feel you there.  That cold distance – that mountaintop within yourself – that is the first step to the power of DarkClan.”</p><p><em>     No,</em> Skystalker thought in his deepest heart. <em>It is the first step in your defeat.</em></p><p>     Skystalker opened his eyes and turned his gaze fully upon the scarred features of Darkshadow.</p><p>     He refused to blink.</p><p>     He mewed, “Yes.”</p><p>     “Yes to what, young one?”</p><p>     “Yes, I want your knowledge.”</p><p>     “Good.  Good!  The Force is strong with you, my friend.  You can do <em>anything</em>.  Are you ready?”</p><p>     “I am,” he mewed, and forced all emotion from his voice. “I give myself to you.  I pledge myself to the code of DarkClan.  Take me as your apprentice.  Lead me.  Be my mentor.”</p><p>     Darkshadow rose.</p><p>     “Crouch before me, Skystalker.”</p><p>     Skystalker forced himself to crouch and lower his head.  <em>May StarClan see my heart and understand my truth.</em></p><p>     “It is your will to join your destiny forever with DarkClan?”</p><p>     All hesitation was shoved away.  “Yes.”</p><p>     Darkshadow laid a paw on Skystalker’s head.  “Then it is done.  You are now one with DarkClan.  From this day forward, the truth of you, my apprentice, now and forevermore, will be …”</p><p>     A pause; a questioning in the Force –</p><p>     An answer, dark as the gaps beneath stones –</p><p>     “… Darklight.”</p><p>     And he knew that StarClan had truly heard him.</p><p>     They understood what he truly intended of this choice.</p><p><em>     The truth still shines through the lie,</em> he told himself.</p><p>     “Thank you, my mentor,” he uttered aloud.</p><p>     “LightClan is relentless.  If they are not destroyed to the last cat, there will be civil war without end.  To cleanse LightClan’s camp will be your first task.  Do what must be done, Darklight.”</p><p>     “I always have, Darkshadow.”</p><p>     “Do not hesitate.  Show no mercy.  Leave no living cat behind.  Only then will you be strong enough with the dark side to keep your family safe.”</p><p>     “What of those who are not there?”</p><p>     “Leave the absent cats to me.  After you have finished at the camp, your second task will be the Tribe of Shadows leadership, in their ‘secret camp’ at the Fire-river-mountain.  When you have killed them all, DarkClan will rule all cats once more, and we shall have peace.  Forever.</p><p>     Rise, Darklight.”</p><p>     The young tom rose and departed with only a single thought in his mind:</p><p>
  <em>     I have to find Tawnypaw.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>     Once his new apprentice vanished to accomplish his first assigned task, Darkshadow turned to the half of his Force-Crystal that remained in the chamber.  He shook himself hard to be rid of the exhaustion that came with losing a life.</p><p><em>     A</em> life.</p><p>     His mentor, nor any other DarkClan cat that had come before him, could claim the ability to trick StarClan into giving him nine lives.  He was far cleverer and more powerful than all of them combined.</p><p>     And Darklight held the potential to be stronger still.</p><p>     Laying his paw on the Force-Crystal, he activated it.  He cast out his mind to the Starstone-shards of each rogue-warrior.  They had been his to command by the Tribe’s code; now they would be <em>his</em> entirely.</p><p>     With only one command.</p><p> </p><p>     The Valley of Cliffs was still in the midst of battle.</p><p>     From his observation post halfway down the Sky-Cliff, Codslash caught his breath.  Most of the enemy cats were dead now, and the rest were likely not too far behind.</p><p>     Given how dark the sky was, he considered that a good thing.</p><p>     He turned to greet the equally tired cat padding up next to him.  “Sunlight,” he mewed.</p><p>     “Codslash,” the LightClan sage replied with a dip of his head.  He was still looking out at the battle. “Did you contact LightClan with the news of Greyfuzz’s death?”</p><p>     “As ordered,” he mewed.  Then he blinked.  “Erm, Sunlight?”</p><p>     Sunlight looked at him.</p><p>     “Are you alright?  You’re a bit of a mess.”</p><p>     The sage shook some dust from his pelt.  “Ah.  Well, yes.  It has been a … stressful day.”  He waved his tail toward the cats below.  “But we still have a battle to win.  You’ll notice I <em>did</em> manage to leave some cats for you to chase …”</p><p>     Codslash purred with amusement.  “Yes, you did.”  A silent buzz in his shoulder made him shift his weight uncomfortably.  “Go on ahead, Sunlight.  I’ll be right behind you.”</p><p>     No sooner had Sunlight moved away than the buzz moved from his shoulder to his head.  There was a sensation of something slipping into his mind, something Codslash fought to no avail.</p><p>     Then the buzz in his head became a voice he couldn’t ignore.</p><p><em>     “It is time,”</em> the voice intoned. <em>“In the name of our Great Clan, carry out the Dark Order.”</em></p><p>     Codslash’s will was suddenly no longer his own.  As if some cat had clawed out his memories and left behind a chamber with only one thing:</p><p>     Unquestioning obedience to the voice.</p><p>
  <em>     “It will be done.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>     The order was given only once.  Its wave swept through every rogue-warrior by way of the Starstone-shard embedded in each cat’s shoulder from birth.  With the order came an end to their will and memories of friendship.</p><p>     Their will belonged to the DarkClan leader.</p><p>     And in the territory of the Gathering Place, death came to his enemies.</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker was so intent on his mission he nearly collided with the cat he sought.</p><p>     “Tawnypaw!” he gasped.</p><p>     His former apprentice heaved for every breath as if she’d run the entire way from BloodClan.  “Skystalker.  What’s going on?  I felt something terrible happen.  And then my patrol just –”</p><p>     Four rogue-warriors darted out of the bushes and Skystalker shifted to a crouch.  Then he noticed something that made him freeze.</p><p>     “What happened to your shoulder?”</p><p>     Raggedheart glanced at the mess of cobwebs and herbs on his shoulder.  “I heard the voice.  It tried to … force me to kill Tawnypaw.  Told all of us that.  I fought it as hard as I could, but I – I would have lost that battle if Tawnypaw hadn’t clawed the shard out of my shoulder.”</p><p>     Skystalker straightened, blinking in shock.  “You removed the shard?  All of you?”</p><p>     Tawnypaw’s head dropped.  “We couldn’t save all of them.  It’s just us.  The rest … it was like they forgot us.  Like all they knew was whatever the voice told them.”</p><p>     Skystalker looked at each of the four toms, recognizing each of them.  Greyfoot, Wolffur, Greyface, and Raggedheart.  He was unsurprised that Raggedheart would fight the order.  The way he and Tawnypaw looked at each other told him that.  The pair would not be parted willingly.</p><p>     Skystalker drew a deep breath and met the young she-cat’s eyes.  “Foxstar is Darkshadow.  He killed Violetlight and three others who went to capture him.  He left me alive because he believes I’m on <em>his</em> side.”</p><p>     Tawnypaw gaped.  “How did you manage that?” she asked.</p><p>     “Pretended to swear loyalty to him,” he answered drily. “What else?”</p><p>     The five regarded him with respect.</p><p>     “You have some courage,” Wolffur commented.</p><p>     Tawnypaw’s ears dropped as she understood the full implication.  “He’s going to attack the camp.”</p><p>     “If he hasn’t already, he will at any moment.”</p><p>     Raggedheart moved to stand beside Tawnypaw.  “What do you need from us, Skystalker?”</p><p>     Skystalker looked each cat in the eye and saw the same determined gleam.  “Just one thing.”</p><p>     Tawnypaw lifted her tail.  “Name it.”</p><p> </p><p>     Stonelight had only managed to drag himself a few foxlengths toward the distant trees before he collapsed.  He could feel the blood pouring from his wounds and knew the blows were fatal.</p><p>     The sage was going to die.</p><p>     Alone.</p><p>     As he lay there, struggling to make sense of what had happened, he felt a familiar presence.  He opened his eyes weakly to see Skystalker crouching over him.</p><p>     The young warrior was desperately pressing willow bark and cobwebs over his wounds despite both knowing it was no use.</p><p>     “Skystalker!” Stonelight rasped. “Skystalker, what happened?  Where are the sages?”</p><p>     Skystalker’s face twisted in sorrow.  “They’re in StarClan now.  Where is Maplelight?”</p><p>     “Inside the ruin – we felt something happen in the Force, something awful.  She told me you had sensed something before.  She was going to search the Force for what had happened –”</p><p>     His voice trailed away as a cough wrenched itself from his throat.</p><p>     “The rogue-warriors … they came …”  The sage could feel his voice fading but he forced himself on, desperate to warn the warrior.  “They are killing … every cat they find … I don’t understand why …”</p><p>     Stonelight coughed violently and heaved once more for a breath that never came.</p><p>     Skystalker crouched over the dead sage with his paw still pressed to the wound.  With a quiet pain-filled moan he pressed his nose to the tom’s blood-streaked pelt.  “You have no idea …” he rasped. “I’m so sorry, Stonelight.”</p><p> </p><p>     Sunlight never saw it coming.</p><p>     Codslash spotted a large boulder directly over the spot where Sunlight was descending.  Signaling to four others, he moved them into position behind it.  He leaned over the ledge enough to see where the sage was.</p><p>     Right below it.</p><p>     He flicked his tail-tip toward the LightClan tom.  “Drop it down.”</p><p>     They did.</p><p>     The boulder crashed into the ledge Sunlight was on, throwing the sage off and into the air.  It crashed into the ground, forming a hole where a tunnel had unknowingly been.  Codslash looked down again to see the underground river at the bottom.</p><p>     “Send a patrol down there to look,” he ordered. “I want to see the body.”</p><p> </p><p>     The LightClan camp was a bloodbath.  Skystalker couldn’t look anywhere without seeing the still, twisted bodies of cats he had trained and fought beside for moons.  There was Maplelight with her Force-Crystal broken beside her.  And a foxlength away he saw the bodies of Roansight and Chirppaw, as inseparable in death as in life.  His sank further when he saw that even the medicine cats hadn’t been spared.</p><p>     He forced away his true emotions as he approached the cat in charge of the carnage.</p><p>     “Applefur,” he called. “Report.”</p><p>     The white tom lowered his head respectfully.  “Darklight.  We’ve taken care of nearly all the traitors.  I have multiple patrols tracking the rest as we speak.  We haven’t found the kits though.”</p><p>     Out of the corner of his one usable eye, to his private relief, Skystalker spotted one survivor. </p><p>     Mantisheart was crouched behind a bit of rubble.  She was covered in mud and blood.  Her eyes were wide with fright as she peered out.</p><p>     Keeping his tail low, Skystalker sent her the LightClan signal to <em>flee</em>.</p><p>     She dipped her head and crept cautiously toward an open crack in the ruin wall.</p><p>     He fixed his attention on Applefur.  “Leave the kits to me.  Just finish up here before any cat comes looking.”</p><p>     Applefur dipped his head and hurried off.  Skystalker turned and, after checking with the Force that Mantisheart made it out, headed for the Council chamber.</p><p> </p><p>     The Dark Order was the climax of the War of Rogues.</p><p>     Not a thrilling climax; it wasn’t meant as the culmination of an epic struggle.  Just the opposite.  The War of Rogues was never an epic struggle.  It was never intended to be.</p><p>     The Dark Order was why the war was fought in the first place.  It was the reason for its existence.  The War of Rogues had always been, from its very inception, the revenge of DarkClan.</p><p>     It was irresistible bait.  The battles took place in remote locations, in territories and areas that belonged to “some other cat.”  And they were constructed as a win-win situation.</p><p>     The perfect trap for LightClan.</p><p>     By fighting at all, LightClan lost.</p><p>     With the Clan overextended, spread thin across the world, each member of the Clan was alone, surrounded only by whatever rogue-warriors he or she commanded.  War itself poured darkness into the Force, deepening the cloud that limited LightClan perception.  And the rogue-warriors held no malice, no hatred, not the slightest ill intent that might have given warning.  They were only following orders.</p><p>     Now they were following the Dark Order.</p><p>     Rogue-warriors’ individual wills were overtaken by the singular will of Darkshadow, and LightClan cats died.</p><p>     From Palelight to Bluelight to Raccoonlight to Serpentlight to Steadylight to every other sage and warrior, each was suddenly betrayed by cats they had trusted.</p><p>     All across the world.  All at once.</p><p>     LightClan cats died.</p><p> </p><p>     Seeing the pile of rubble blocking most of the entrance to the chamber, Skystalker allowed himself to feel a bit of relief.  He wriggled through the small gap that had been left.</p><p>     A tiny ball of blue-grey fur flew out from behind one of the sitting stones.</p><p>     “Skystalker!  Skystalker!  I knew you’d come back!”</p><p>     “Hush, Frogkit,” he mewed. “We don’t want to catch their attention.”  He looked up as the other kits hurried toward him.</p><p>     Trillpaw padded up just behind them.  Her black fur was dusty and her green eyes were fearful.  “They struck out of nowhere, Skystalker.  Mantisheart sent me up here with the kits.  She was supposed to be right behind us, but I haven’t seen her –”</p><p>     “She made it out.  Where is Lizardpaw?” he asked.</p><p>     “He wouldn’t leave Maplelight.  They stayed below as a distraction, but …  Oh, Skystalker, what are we going to <em>do</em>?  There are <em>too</em> <em>many</em> of them.”  Her voice tilted into a quiet wail.</p><p>     His gaze flitted from one face to the next, starting with the troubled apprentice and ending with the frightened but hopeful kits at his paws.</p><p>     He took a deep breath.</p><p> </p><p>     Sunlight felt his head and shoulders breach the surface of the lightless river.  He swam cautiously to a rocky outcropping that was rugged enough pawholds.  He pulled himself out and shook the water from his pelt.</p><p>     The walls had a few pawholds that were usable and he saw a single hole high above him.  Sunlight let out a resigned sigh before moving to make the ascent.</p><p>     He really <em>hated</em> climbing.</p><p>     Pawstep by pawstep he climbed, slowly and painfully toward the hole.  Once he got close enough, he paused long enough to feel through the Force for any patrols.  Satisfied that he was in the clear, he leapt –</p><p>     And barely managed to hang on with his claws.  His attempt to pull himself up nearly ended in disaster.</p><p>     Then a familiar, and thankfully friendly, face appeared in his sight.</p><p>     “Hello there,” Bronzefur chirped. “Need an extra paw?”</p><p>     “Yes, please,” Sunlight breathed.</p><p>     The ForestClan she-cat leaned forward to grab his scruff and half-dragged him the rest of the way.  He flopped down and breathed gratefully.</p><p>     “How did you find me?”</p><p>     “I was hiding in my designated hiding spot when the rogue-warriors suddenly started acting strange.  Then I overheard them talking about you falling into the river, so I asked one of the StoneClan cats where the river ran and followed it until I found the hole and, by happenstance, you.”</p><p>     “Ah.”  Sunlight drew a deep breath.  “Well, I doubt Codslash will give up so easily.”</p><p>     “In that case, we’d best get as far away as possible.  And fast.”</p><p> </p><p>     Dawn crept across the sky.  Rays of sunlight brought a rose-colored glow to the thin veil of clouds above.</p><p>     Balefur was a cat not given to anger, but when he caught a glimpse of the source of the commotion he’d heard while hunting with a couple of Clanmates, the snarl it brought out of his throat would have rivaled a badger.</p><p>     He spun around to the two cats behind him.  “Antsun!  Coltspring!”</p><p>     The two toms faced him immediately.  “Yes, Balefur?”</p><p>     “Look there.  Aren’t those rogue-warriors over there?”</p><p>     They all squinted in the indicated direction.</p><p>     Antsun, the most keen-sighted of the three, mewed, “It seems that way.  And isn’t that LightClan’s camp?”</p><p>     “That’s odd,” Coltspring commented, tilting an ear in confusion.</p><p>     Balefur announced, “I’m going to try and see what’s going on.”</p><p>     The other two toms looked at him in alarm.</p><p>     “Balefur, I wouldn’t recommend it –” Coltspring meowed.</p><p>     “I won’t take any chances.”  Balefur started forward, then paused and turned back.  “Speaking of not taking any chances: I want you both to head back to the den and let the others know that I’m going on a brief trip and I’ll be back in two sunrises.  I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”</p><p>     Coltspring dipped his head immediately, but Antsun lifted his tail a bit.  “I’ll keep watch from here.”</p><p>     Balefur sighed.  The two of them had been apprentices together and he was well-aware of Antsun’s stubbornness.  “Fine,” he conceded. “But stay out of sight.”</p><p>     He darted down the hill toward a patrol of five rogue-warriors standing guard a few foxlengths away from the entrance.</p><p>     One of the rogue-warriors stepped forward to block his path.  “Don’t worry, everything is under control here.”</p><p>     “Under control?  What happened?”</p><p>     “I’m sorry, I can’t talk about it.”</p><p>     “Has there been some kind of attack on LightClan?”</p><p>     “I’m sorry, I can’t talk about it.”</p><p>     “Can I at least check for my friend?” Balefur asked, improvising. “He told me he was meeting with LightClan’s Council –”</p><p>     “I’m sorry, the Council is not in session and entry is forbidden.  And it is time for you to leave.”</p><p>     Balefur studied the five rogue-warriors, noting the hard glint in their eyes.  He backed off slowly.  “Yes, all right, I’m going.”</p><p>     As he padded away, a sudden yowl behind him caught his attention.  Balefur stared with an open mouth as a LightClan she-cat flashed out of nowhere and started cutting down rogue-warriors.  <em>Not a warrior,</em> he realized, vaguely recognizing her.</p><p>
  <em>     An apprentice.</em>
</p><p>     She was a little over fourteen moons, her activated Force-Crystal bathing her black fur in light as green as her eyes.  More rogue-warriors raced out from the entrance, lunging for her.  Her right fore-claws gleamed green as she lashed at them bravely.  But bravery could only carry the she-cat so far before she was simply overwhelmed, her body dropping limply in the midst of the rogue-warriors she had killed.</p><p>     Balefur ran before any cat could notice him still there, scrabbling deep into the forest.</p><p>     He finally stopped beneath a fallen tree trunk and stood there for several heartbeats gasping for air.  There was the sound of pawsteps and Antsun appeared from the brush.</p><p>     “What happened over there?” Antsun asked. “I heard fighting –”</p><p>     “It’s worse than I thought.  Far worse than <em>either</em> of us thought.  Foxstar has sent the rogue-warriors to attack LightClan.  We have to go <em>now</em>.”</p><p>     “Where to?  Home?”</p><p>     “No.  The Great-fir-forest,” Balefur replied.</p><p>     “Isn’t that the Tribe of Windy Trees’ territory?”</p><p>     “Yes.  There’s no way for us to know if any LightClan cats have lived through this – but if I had to wager on one, my guess would be Lightstar.”</p><p>     The pair turned to leave, and out of the corner of his eye Balefur spotted movement.  He turned slightly to see four familiar cats (<em>Was that really <strong>Tawnypaw</strong>?  Skystalker’s old apprentice?</em>) slipping carefully through the brush.</p><p>     They were guiding a group of kits.</p><p>     Tawnypaw, because who else could that she-cat with the pair of Force-Crystals <em>be</em>, paused to pick up the tiniest one, a blue-grey tom-kit with the largest ears Balefur had ever seen on a kit.  She spotted him and froze.  He saw the lingering grief in her eyes and remembered that the apprentice he saw die only moments ago had been her friend.</p><p>     They shared the barest of silent acknowledgements before turning away.  Each to their self-appointed task.</p><p> </p><p>     Lightstar felt the pained screeches through the Force, staggering under the weight of the pain and startling the two Tribe cats standing nearby.  As he lay on his belly struggling to breathe, a hiss of warning entered the Force.  Gathering his strength, he jumped, activating his Force-Crystal.  Two rogue-warriors collided with each other right where he had been a heartbeat earlier.  The Tribe cats were quick to assist and the rogue-warriors were taken care of in moments.</p><p>     Lightstar looked at the dead cats with a sigh, then turned to the Tribe cats, the next-lead and his apprentice.</p><p>     “Leave now I must, Grows Tall,” Lightstar mewed.</p><p>     Grows Tall dipped his head.  “Chews Bark and I will escort you.”</p><p>     It took far longer than any of them hoped to reach the Tribe’s border.  As they drew close, Grows Tall conversed in a low voice with Lightstar.</p><p>     “There is a Thunderpath near here.  If you follow it, you’ll find a small Thundersnake den.  It’s not comfortable, but it can see you away quickly.”</p><p>     Lightstar dipped his head in acknowledgement, moved to cross, then paused and turned back to the Tribe cats.</p><p>     “Good-bye, Grows Tall and Chews Bark.  Miss you I will.  For your help, much gratitude and respect, I have.”</p><p>     They dipped their heads to him, then the three parted ways.</p><p> </p><p>     Goldpelt froze mid-pace as Bluestripe hurried into the main chamber of the ForestClan den.  An exhausted-looking Skystalker was only a tail-length behind the warrior.</p><p>     “Skystalker!” he breathed, relief coursing through him as he bounded over to butt heads with his brother.</p><p>     Skystalker let out a tired, unhappy sigh.  His pelt was damp as though he’d gone for a swim just before coming.  “Where’s Berryheart?” he asked. “I’d rather not be forced to repeat this.  I’m in a bit of a hurry.”</p><p>     “I’ll go get her,” Bluestripe offered immediately.</p><p>     From the moment one of the ForestClan guards outside had mentioned trouble at the LightClan camp, the two mediators had waited anxiously for answers; now, at last, they might get some.</p><p>     A heartbeat after Bluestripe disappeared into the nesting chamber, Berryheart practically flew out to greet Skystalker despite her larger size.  Rosefur padded out with Bluestripe, questions plainly on both of their faces.</p><p>     “What’s happened?” Berryheart asked. “We heard there was an attack on the LightClan camp –”</p><p>     “Something about a <em>rebellion</em> or <em>assassination</em> or something equally mouse-brained,” Bluestripe added.</p><p>     Skystalker looked at them all wearily before he started explaining.  A look crossed his face that Goldpelt recognized immediately: it was a look that meant he was being overly careful with what he was telling them. </p><p>     “Violetlight and three others attempted to kill Foxstar in his den.  Foxstar has declared all of LightClan as traitors to the Tribe of Gathering.”</p><p>     The group froze.</p><p>     “What about Sunlight?”  Berryheart looked as stricken and terrified as Goldpelt felt.</p><p>     Skystalker lowered his head, closing his eyes in pain.  “I don’t know.  Many LightClan cats have been killed.”</p><p>     “But …”  Rosefur stepped forward hesitantly.  “Are you <em>sure</em>?  It seems so … <em>unbelievable</em> …”</p><p>     “I was present when Violetlight made his attempt.”</p><p>     Goldpelt noted that his brother didn’t indicate how much truth was in the accusation.</p><p>     “Traitors …,” Berryheart murmured. “What happens now?”</p><p>     “As far as I’m aware, I’m the only LightClan cat not sentenced to death.  But there’s more …”  Skystalker drew a shuddering breath.  “He’s announced that any cat who was part of the Delegation of the Two Hundred is also to be considered a traitor.”</p><p>     Berryheart’s gaze snapped to Skystalker’s, and fear shone in her eyes.</p><p>     Skystalker looked determined.</p><p>     “I won’t let anything happen to you.  Any of you.”  He looked around at each of them.  “You’re my family.  All I <em>know</em> I have left.”</p><p>     “What about the rest of the Delegation?” Goldpelt asked.</p><p>     “Your name was never brought up as part of it, which keeps <em>you</em> safe.  The others … I can only do so much <em>for</em> <em>now </em>…”</p><p>     Goldpelt caught the inflection and a glance at the others told him they’d caught it, too.</p><p>     “What about <em>me</em>?”  Berryheart lifted her chin.  “I was a part of it.  Am <em>I</em> under suspicion?”</p><p>     That careful look crossed Skystalker’s face again.  “As long as I stand with Foxstar, any cat associated with me is considered safe, so long as they avoid … inappropriate associations.”</p><p>     Berryheart huffed.  “Safe,” she echoed bitterly. “As long as Foxstar doesn’t change his mind.”</p><p>     Skystalker didn’t contradict her.  “The Tribe of Shadows leadership is in hiding at a place called the Fire-river-mountain.  I’ve been instructed to deal with them now.”</p><p>     Bluestripe shook his pelt.  “Never heard of it before, but it sounds fun –”</p><p>     “No, Bluestripe,” Skystalker mewed. “Not this time.”</p><p>     Goldpelt stared at him.  “You’re going alone.”</p><p>     Skystalker looked pained.  “I know it’s a hard thing to ask but have faith.  I’ll be there and back before you know and the war will be <em>over</em>.”</p><p>     “Then we can <em>go</em>, can’t we?”  Berryheart looked at Skystalker with bright appeal.  “We can leave here.  Go somewhere we can be <em>together</em> – someplace <em>safe</em>.”</p><p>     “Where ever you’d like,” he promised. “And I will explain <em>everything</em> in full.”</p><p>     Goldpelt sighed.  “You’d better.”</p><p>     “I promise.”  As Skystalker touched his nose to his brother’s shoulder, he murmured quietly, “Keep her safe for me?”</p><p>     “Always.”</p><p>     Then Skystalker was gone.  All that was left was a shared hopelessness.</p><p> </p><p>     Sunlight and Bronzefur had taken a chance by slipping into the belly of a Thundersnake at a nearby den.  According to a den-cat, it couldn’t take them all the way to the Gathering Place but it usually stopped a full sunrise away.  They rested gratefully beneath one of the colorful Twoleg-ledges.</p><p>     “So, what now?” the ForestClan she-cat asked.</p><p>     Sunlight considered this for a long moment, trying to ignore the small, still voice in his head that hissed he might just be the only LightClan cat left.  “I somehow doubt that this was an isolated incident.  It was far too sudden and coordinated for that.  I need to see if any of my Clanmates knows what is going on –”</p><p>     His Force-Crystal pulsed suddenly.  He activated it and sent his mind through the Force.</p><p>
  <em>     “Hello?  Can you hear me?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>     “Sunlight.  Gladdens me your voice does.  Wounded, are you?”</em>
</p><p>     Relief washed over Sunlight.  <em>“Lightstar!  No, I’m not wounded – not much, anyway.  I need help.  My rogue-warriors turned on me.  If not for Bronzefur I might not have made it out alive!”</em></p><p>
  <em>     “Ambushed everywhere our Clanmates have been.”</em>
</p><p>     Sunlight lowered his head, offering a silent wish to StarClan that the victims might find their way through the Force.</p><p>
  <em>     “Have you had contact with any other survivors?”</em>
</p><p><em>     “Only you,” </em>was the grim reply. <em>“At the hollow tree meet me and our allies.  A half-sunrise from the Gathering Place.  Waiting for you we are.”</em></p><p> </p><p>     A tuft of grass, waving in the cooling night-breeze –</p><p>     A pair of paws, one white, one light brown, both covered in dust and the dried blood of a Tribe of Shadows warrior –</p><p>     The pattern of wood in the wall of a hollow tree trunk –</p><p>     These were what Sunlight could look at without starting to shake.</p><p>     To look at anything else allowed his mind to wander …</p><p>     And the shaking began.</p><p>     The shaking got worse when he met the ancient green stare of the tiny cat sitting across from him, for those tired eyes and that white-streaked fur were his earliest memory, and they reminded Sunlight of the friends who had died this past sunrise.</p><p>     The shaking got worse still when he turned to the other cat in the trunk, because he sat upright in a way that reminded Sunlight of the enemy who yet lived.</p><p>     The deception.  The death of sages he had admired and warriors who had been his friends.  The death of his oath to Moonlight.</p><p>     The death of Skystalker.</p><p>     Skystalker must have fallen along with Violetlight and Brownlight, Tinlight and Streamlight; fallen along with the camp.</p><p>     Along with the Clan itself.</p><p>     Dust.</p><p>     Nothing but dust.</p><p>     Countless generations wiped from existence in a single sunrise.</p><p>     All the dreams.  All the promises.</p><p>     All the <em>kits</em> …</p><p>     “We took them from their <em>homes</em>.”  Sunlight fought to stay in place; the pain inside him demanded motion.  It became wave after wave of tremors.  “We <em>promised</em> their <em>families</em> –”</p><p>     “Control yourself, you must; still a LightClan cat, you are!”</p><p>     “Yes, Lightstar.”  The dust on his paws – focused on that, he could suppress the shaking.  “Yes, we are LightClan cats.  But what if we’re the <em>last</em>?”</p><p>     “If the last we are, unchanged our duty is.”  Lightstar lowered his head wearily.  He looked every sunrise of his nearly 57 seasons.  “While one LightClan cat lives, survive the Clan does.  Resist the darkness with every breath, we must.”</p><p>     He lifted his head and poked Sunlight’s shoulder with his tail.  “Especially the darkness in <em>ourselves</em>, young one.  Of the dark side, despair is.”</p><p>     The simple truth of this called to him.  Even despair was attachment; it was a grip clench upon pain.</p><p>     Slowly, very slowly, Sunlight remembered what it was to be a sage of LightClan.</p><p>     He leaned back and focused on his breathing; into himself with the air he brought pain and guilt and remorse, and as he let it out, they trailed away and vanished in the air.</p><p>     He breathed out his whole life.</p><p>     Everything he had done, everything he had been, friends and enemies, dreams and hopes and fears.</p><p>     Empty, he found clarity.  Cleansed, the Force shone through him.  He straightened and dipped his head to Lightstar.</p><p>     “Yes,” he mewed. “We may be the last.  But what if we’re <em>not</em>?”</p><p>     Green eyes narrowed.  “Home the survivors may go.”</p><p>     “Yes.  Any survivors may return seeking help, and be killed.”</p><p>     Balefur looked from one LightClan tom to the other, ears tilted back.  “What are you saying?”</p><p>     “I’m saying,” Sunlight replied, “that we have to go back to the LightClan camp.”</p><p>     “It’s too dangerous,” the MountainClan mediator meowed instantly. “The whole camp is a <em>trap</em> –”</p><p>     “Yes.  We have a – ah …”</p><p>     The loss of Skystalker jabbed him.</p><p>     Then he let that go, too.</p><p>     “<em>I</em> have,” he corrected himself, “a rule about traps …”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. The Rise of ShadowClan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     The Fire-river-mountain was aptly named: a tall mountain with rivers of fire-water burning down its slopes.</p><p>     A single cat hurried along the rocky mountainside, occasionally stopping to brace himself against ground-shakes before continuing on.  His destination was the one relatively safe cavern a foxlength above the absolute base of the mountain.</p><p>     The one that served as the den of the Tribe of Shadows leadership.</p><p>     It was from that den that messengers had departed almost one and a half sunrises before to order the Tribe of Shadows warriors to stand down.  The War of Rogues was officially over.</p><p>     Almost.</p><p>     There was one final detail.</p><p>     The tom reached the cavern and entered quietly.</p><p> </p><p>     Balefur strode over to where Lightstar and Sunlight were huddled together in quiet conversation.  They looked up at his approach.</p><p>     “I’ve just been told that Foxstar has called for an emergency Gathering,” Balefur informed them. “Attendance is required.”</p><p>     “Ah.”  Sunlight’s ears tilted back.  “It’s clear what this will be about.”</p><p>     “I am,” Balefur mewed slowly, “concerned it might be a trap.”</p><p>     “Unlikely this is.”  Lightstar padded toward him.  “Unknown, is the purpose of your sudden departure from the Gathering Place; dead, young Sunlight and I are both presumed to be.”</p><p>     “And Foxstar won’t be moving against the Great Gathering as a whole,” Sunlight added. “At least, not yet; he’ll need the illusion of choice to keep the individual Clans and Tribes in line.  He won’t risk a general uprising.”</p><p>     Balefur dipped his head.  “In that case –” He took a deep breath. “– perhaps I could journey with you part of the way?”</p><p> </p><p>     Inside the Tribe of Shadows den at the Fire-river-mountain …</p><p>     Silverstar was scratching a dry spot behind his ear –</p><p>     Roachstar was in deep discussion with his deputy, Sunclaw –</p><p>     Marredstar was grooming the base of her tail –</p><p>     Sandstar was stretching his legs after waking from a nap –</p><p>     Hawkfur was shifting his weight nervously –</p><p>     While Newtstar conversed with the shadowy Starstone-image of Darkshadow.</p><p>     “The plan has gone exactly as you promised, Darkshadow,” Newtstar meowed. “This is a glorious day for all Clans!”</p><p>     “Yes, indeed.  Thanks, in great part, to you, Newtstar, and to your fellow Leadership Council members.  You have all performed magnificently.  Have the warriors completely stood down?”</p><p>     “They should have by now.”</p><p>     “Excellent!  You will be very much rewarded.  Has my new apprentice, Darklight, arrived?”</p><p>     “Our scouts reported that he arrived only a moment ago.”</p><p>     “Good, good,” the image of the shadowy tom mewed pleasantly. “I have left your reward in his paws.  He will take care of you.”</p><p>     A shadow loomed from the entrance.</p><p>     A tall figure, slim but broad-shouldered, features hidden by the darkness of the tunnel, approached the chamber.</p><p>     Sandstar beat the others to the greeting.  “Welcome, Darklight!”  His long legs almost tangled with each other in his rush to move toward the DarkClan cat.  “On behalf of the leadership of the Tribe of Shadows, let me be the first to –”</p><p>     “I’m afraid you’re not as in charge as you believe you are.”</p><p>     The figure stepped inside and drew himself to his full height.  The faint light from the silent Starstone shone across his face.</p><p>     Sandstar recoiled, eyes widening with fright.</p><p>     He had time to gasp, “You’re – you’re <em>Skystalker</em>!” before the other leaders yowled for their warriors to attack.</p><p>     Skystalker sighed heavily.  “I <em>really</em> did <em>not</em> want to do this,” he muttered.</p><p>     In a heartbeat, his right fore-claws were bathed in blue light.</p><p> </p><p>     All eight members of the sun-high patrol were on alert.  They would have been alert on any patrol.  They were trained to be.  Now, they considered themselves on a battlefield, where their lives depended on their perceptions, and on how quickly they could move to defend themselves.</p><p>     So when something dropped down from the branches a foxlength behind them, the patrol were quick to spin about.</p><p>     Sunlight regarded them calmly.  “Hello there.”</p><p>     They didn’t notice the smaller cat that crept up from the opposite side until one of the patrol-cats went down with a flash of green light.</p><p>     A heartbeat later, the rest fell, too.</p><p>     Lightstar looked up at Sunlight.  “To hide the bodies, no point there is.”</p><p>     Sunlight dipped his head in agreement.  “A disappearing patrol is as much a giveaway as a pile of corpses.  Let’s get to the camp.”</p><p> </p><p>     Balefur slipped over to the ForestClan stump as Foxstar thundered from his place in the center of the chamber, “These LightClan murderers left me <em>scarred</em>, left me <em>deformed</em>, but they could not scar my <em>integrity</em>!  They could not deform my <em>resolve</em>!  The remaining traitors will be hunted down, rooted out wherever they may hide, and brought to justice, dead or alive!  All conspirators will suffer the same fate.  Those who protect the enemy <em>are</em> the enemy!  Now is the time!  Now we will strike back!  Now we will <em>destroy</em> the <em>destroyers</em>!  <em>Death to the enemies of peace!</em>”</p><p>     The mediators yowled.</p><p>     Neither Berryheart nor Goldpelt even glanced at Balefur as he slid atop the stump to crouch between them.  On the opposite side, the Tribe of Deep Waters mediator dipped his head toward him, but uttered nothing, blinking solemnly.  Balefur’s ears lowered; if even the irrepressible Frog was worried, this looked to be even worse than he’d expected.  And he had expected it to be very, very bad.</p><p>     He touched Berryheart’s shoulder softly.  “It’s all a lie.  You know that, don’t you?”</p><p>     She stared frozenly toward the ledge.  Her eyes were cloudy and grim.  “We both do.  To some extent.  Where have you been?”</p><p>     “I was … held up.”  As she once had told him, some things were better left silent.</p><p>     “He’s been announcing evidence this whole meeting,” Goldpelt mewed in a flat, affectless monotone. “Not just the assassination attempt.  According to him, LightClan was about to overthrow the Great Gathering.”</p><p>     “It’s a lie,” Balefur repeated.</p><p>     In the center of the mediation chamber, Foxstar dug his claws into the ledge as though he drew strength from it.  “This has been the most trying of times, but we have passed the assessment.  The war is <em>over</em>!”</p><p>     The mediators yowled.</p><p>     “The Tribe of Shadows has been utterly defeated, and <em>our</em> great Tribe <em>will</em> <em>stand</em>!  United!  United and <em>free</em>!”</p><p>     The mediators yowled.</p><p>     “The LightClan Rebellion was our final assessment – it was the last gasp of the forces of darkness!  Now we have left that darkness behind us forever, and a new sunrise has come!  It is <em>morning</em> in our Tribe!”</p><p>     The mediators yowled.</p><p>     Berryheart stared without blinking.  “Here it comes,” she mewed numbly.</p><p>     Balefur blinked.  “Here what comes?”</p><p>     “You’ll see,” Goldpelt answered darkly.</p><p>     “Never again will we be divided!  Never again will Clan turn against Clan, Tribe turn against Tribe, <em>cat</em> turn against <em>cat</em>!  We are one force, <em>indivisible</em>!”</p><p>     The mediators yowled.</p><p>     “To ensure that we will always stand together, that we will always speak with a single voice and act with a single paw, the Tribe of Gathering must <em>change</em>.  We must <em>grow</em>.  We have become more than a <em>Tribe</em>.  We have become a Clan in fact; let us become a Clan in name as well!  <em>The</em> great singular Clan!”</p><p>     The mediators went wild.</p><p>     “What are they doing?” Balefur hissed. “Do they understand what they’re cheering for?”</p><p>     Goldpelt flicked an ear miserably.</p><p>     “We are a single Clan,” Foxstar went on, “that will continue to be ruled by this dignified assembly!  We are a Clan that will never return to the secretive maneuvering and corruption that have wounded us so deeply; we are a Clan that will be directed by a <em>single</em> leader, chosen for <em>life</em> as all leaders have been for generations!”</p><p>     The mediators went wilder.</p><p>     “We are a Clan ruled by the <em>majority</em>!  A Clan ruled by a <em>new</em> code!  A Clan of <em>rules</em>!  A Clan devoted to the preservation of <em>justice</em>!  Of <em>safety</em> and <em>security</em>!  We are a Clan that will stand <em>one hundred thousand seasons</em>!”</p><p>     The yowls of the mediators took on a continuous boiling roll like the rumble of a permanent thunderstorm.</p><p>     “Such a great change requires an equally great name.  For our victory over the shadows, our great Clan will be named <em>ShadowClan</em>.  And in honor of our new Clan, I humbly take the name <em>Shadowstar</em>, to remind all of our accomplishments.  For the sake of our <em>kits</em>.  For our kits’ kits!  For the next one hundred thousand seasons!  Safety!  Security!  Justice and Peace!”</p><p>     The mediators took up the chant, louder and louder until it seemed the whole world yowled along.</p><p>     Balefur could barely hear Berryheart over the din.</p><p>     “So, this is how freedom dies,” she was murmuring to herself. “With tumultuous acclaim.”</p><p>     “We can’t let this happen!”  Balefur lurched to his paws.  “I have to get to the MountainClan stump – we can still put forward a motion –”</p><p>     “No.”  Berryheart moved to block his path with astonishing speed, and for the first time since he’d arrived, she looked straight into his eyes.  “No, Balefur, you can’t put forward a motion.  You <em>can’t</em>.  Fangfur has already been imprisoned, and Ivydrop, and it won’t be long until the entire Delegation of the Two Hundred are declared enemies of the Clan.  You stayed away from the delegation for good reason; don’t draw attention to yourself by what you do today.”</p><p>     “But I can’t just stand by and <em>watch</em> –”</p><p>     “You’re right.  You can’t just watch.  You have to cast your stone <em>for</em> him.”</p><p>     “What?”</p><p>     “Balefur, it’s the only way.  It’s the only hope you have of remaining in a position to do <em>any cat</em> any good.  Cast your stone for Shadowstar.  Cast your stone for ShadowClan.  Make Mothripple cast <em>her</em> stone for him, too.  Be good little mediators.  Mind your manners and keep your heads down.  And keep doing … all those things we can’t talk about.  All those things I can’t know.  <em>Promise</em> me, Balefur.”</p><p>     “Berryheart, what you’re talking about – what we’re <em>not</em> talking about – it could take <em>ten seasons</em>!  Are you and Goldpelt under suspicion?  What are you going to do?”</p><p>     “Goldpelt will be fine.  As for me,” she mewed distantly, “I don’t know if I’ll be around <em>to</em> do anything.”</p><p> </p><p>     Within the den at the Fire-river-mountain were warriors from the many member-groups of the Tribe of Shadows.  They were Clan-cats born and raised.  They were loyal to a fault to their leaders.</p><p>     Their leaders were concerned about their own safety and personal pride.</p><p>     It was a fatal flaw for all of them.</p><p>     Roachstar, the leader of CliffClan, screeched angrily as he lunged at Skystalker, eager to avenge his previous failed attempt on the warrior’s life.  His last life ended with a well-placed blow of burning claws that opened his throat.  His furious deputy was cut down a heartbeat later after making the same mistake.</p><p>     Marredstar, ClayClan’s leader, looked up from where she cowered, eyes wide with fright, ears down in surrender.  “We were promised a <em>reward</em>,” she gasped. “A h – h – <em>handsome</em> reward –”</p><p>     “You were promised that by a liar,” Skystalker mewed. “Do you truly want your Clan to survive?”</p><p>     “Please!” she wailed quietly. “<em>Please</em>!”</p><p>     Skystalker leaned close.  “Then I suggest you take your Clan as far away from these territories as possible.  Stay, and Darkshadow will see you dead no matter <em>what</em> he’s told you.”</p><p>     The grateful she-cat scrambled away and bolted out of the entrance; her remaining warriors followed close at her tail.</p><p>     The only sound, then, was a panicky stutter of pawsteps as the other leaders scampered along a tunnel toward a second chamber further in, yowling for their warriors to attack the intruder.</p><p>     Skystalker didn’t want to pursue.  But he recognized with reluctance that he had no choice in the matter.</p><p> </p><p>     Rogue-warriors swarmed the LightClan camp.</p><p>     Multiple patrols throughout the ruin were not just an occupying force, but engaged in the long, painstaking process of piling dead bodies for removal.  Not a single body was to be left, and all had to be accounted for.</p><p>     It was turning out to be somewhat more complicated than the rogue-warriors had expected.  Though the fighting had ended a sunrise ago, warriors kept turning up missing.  Usually small patrols of five or less cats that still made random rounds about the ruin, checking every chamber and every tunnel.</p><p>     Sometimes when those chambers were checked, what was found inside was a pile of dead rogue-warriors.</p><p>     And there were disturbing reports as well; reports regarding sightings of movement – usually a flash of a tail disappearing around a corner, caught in a rogue-warrior’s peripheral vision – that on investigation seemed to have been only imagination, or hallucination.  There were also multiple reports of inexplicable sounds coming from out-of-the-way areas that turned out to be deserted.</p><p>     Though rogue-warriors were raised to be ruthlessly pragmatic, materialistic, and completely impervious to superstition, some of them began to suspect the ruin might be haunted.</p><p>     In the vast misty gloom of the waterfall chamber, one of the rogue-warriors on the current patrol caught a glimpse of something moving deeper into the gloom.  “Halt!” he yowled. “You there!  Don’t move!”</p><p>     The shadowy shape darted away, and the rogue-warrior turned to his patrol-mates.  “Come on!  Whatever that was, we need to investigate!”</p><p>     The patrol pelted off into the mist.  Behind them, at the spill of bodies they’d been working on, fog and gloom gave way to a pair of LightClan cats.</p><p>     Sunlight moved past rogue-warrior bodies to look down at smaller ones torn apart beyond recognition.  The wail he’d been fighting since first entering the camp itched at his throat once more.  “Not even the kits survived.  It looks like they made a stand here.”</p><p>     Lightstar’s ears lowered with ancient sadness.  “Or trying to flee they were, with some turning back to slow the pursuit.”</p><p>     Sunlight turned to another body, an older one, a LightClan sage whose body was torn but sadly recognizable.  Grief clawed a gasp from his chest.  “Lightstar – it’s <em>Stonelight</em> …”</p><p>     Lightstar looked over and lowered his head bleakly.  “Abandon his younger Clanmates, Stonelight would not.”</p><p>     Sunlight sank to his belly beside the fallen sage.  “He was my battle instructor when I was a kit …”</p><p>     “And his, was I,” Lightstar mewed. “Cripple us, grief will, if let it we do.”</p><p>     “I know.  But … it’s one thing to know a friend is dead, Lightstar.  It’s another to find his <em>body</em> …”</p><p>     “Yes.”  Lightstar moved closer.  With a stubby paw, he indicated a burnt and bloodless gash along Stonelight’s belly that had cut deep.  “Yes, it is.  See this, do you?  This wound, no normal claws could make.”</p><p>     An icy void opened in Sunlight’s heart.  It swallowed his pain and his grief, leaving behind a precariously empty calm.</p><p>     He hissed, “<em>Force-imbued</em> claws?”</p><p>     “Ensure no other survivors come, we still must.”  Lightstar flicked his tail toward shadows coming toward them through the mist.  “Returning, the rogue-warriors are.”</p><p>     Sunlight rose.  “I will learn who did this.”</p><p>     “Learn?”</p><p>     Lightstar blinked at him sadly.</p><p>     “Know already, you do,” he mewed, and padded off into the gloom.</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker fought his way through the tunnel to the next chamber.  He felt only sorrow as one attacker after another fell to his claws.</p><p>     Grimly, he entered the chamber.</p><p>     Silverstar made the first attempt against Skystalker’s life, kicking up dust beneath his paws as he lunged.</p><p>     “You’ll wish you never came here!” he snarled.</p><p>     Skystalker sidestepped and his claws flashed once.  “It’s too late to warn me of that,” he told the dying tom sadly.</p><p>     Newtstar hissed angrily at his cowering warriors, “Stand and fight him!  There’s only one!”</p><p>     “It’s not too late even for you,” Skystalker meowed. “Leave now and your Clan can live in peace.”</p><p>     The FieldClan leader, the last of the Tribe of Shadows leadership, turned on the young warrior.  “I’ve spent too many moons waiting for my victory!”</p><p>     “Yes, you helped fight this war to end LightClan.”  Skystalker stood tall, his voice calm.  “Congratulations on your success.  Take what’s left of your Clan and go!”</p><p>     “Never!  You won’t escape my claws <em>this</em> time.”</p><p>     Newtstar flew at Skystalker with a howl that was silenced almost immediately.</p><p>     The light brown tom padded carefully around Newtstar’s corpse to confront his deputy.  Hawkfur was slow to approach, keeping himself low.  “Did you mean it?” he whimpered. “When you said we could leave peacefully, did you mean it?”</p><p>     Skystalker met Hawkfur’s gaze levelly.  “If you and your Clanmates wish to leave and never return to these territories while Darkshadow lives, I will not stop you … Hawk<em>star</em>.”</p><p>     The new leader of FieldClan regarded Skystalker with new respect.  With a respectful dip of his head, he called to the remaining warriors and they all departed as Skystalker wearily watched.</p><p>     “May StarClan watch over your path,” he murmured, “and the Force guide your paws.”</p><p> </p><p>     In the Council chamber, Lightstar used the Force to connect to the hidden Starstone beneath his usual sitting-stone, using it to send out a subtle message warning any surviving LightClan cats to <em>run and hide</em>.  Non-LightClan cats would be unable to sense it.  This was all that could be done for any survivors: a warning, to give them a fighting chance.</p><p>     Sunlight turned to Violetlight’s stone and the Force-Crystal piece within it.  The piece connected to other pieces of the same stone throughout the ruin, offering the ability to see things that happened within the camp in the past and present.  He had to find out exactly what they were warning them against.</p><p>     “Do this not,” Lightstar mewed. “Leave we must, before discovered we are.”</p><p>     “I have to <em>see</em> it,” Sunlight replied grimly. “Like I said in the lower chambers: knowing is one thing.  Seeing is another.”</p><p>     “Seeing will only cause you pain.”</p><p>     “Then it is pain that I have earned.  I won’t hide from it.”  He connected to the waterfall chamber’s piece.  “I am not afraid.”</p><p>     Lightstar’s eyes narrowed to green slits.  “You should be.”</p><p>     Stone-faced, Sunlight concentrated on making the image visible to them both.  It was hazy, as though some cat had attempted to block it from seeing, but Sunlight could still see a pair of apprentices – was that Lizardpaw, Maplelight’s apprentice? – standing their ground bravely, though the gloom prevented him from seeing what they were defending, cutting down many of the advancing rogue-warriors.</p><p>     He watched the image flicker a bit before showing the dead apprentices lying atop the burnt and shredded remains of smaller bodies he had no hope of identifying.  He watched a tall tom dragging the corpse of Brownlight into the chamber before dropping it unceremoniously in front of the bodies.</p><p>     Sunlight’s expression never flickered.</p><p>     He opened himself to what he was about to see; he was prepared, and centered, and trusting in the Force, and yet …</p><p>     Then the tom turned to meet a shadowy cat behind him, and he was –</p><p>     He was –</p><p>     Sunlight, staring, wished that he had the strength to claw his eyes out of his head.</p><p>     But even blind, he would see this forever.</p><p>     He would see his friend, his apprentice, his Clanmate, turn and lower his head to a DarkClan leader.</p><p>     His head rang with a silent wail.</p><p>
  <em>     “The traitors have been destroyed, Darkshadow.  LightClan’s knowledge is hidden away no longer.”</em>
</p><p><em>     “Good … good …  Together, we shall master every secret of the Force.” </em> The DarkClan leader purred contentedly.  <em>“You have done well, my new apprentice.  Do you feel your power growing?”</em></p><p>
  <em>     “Yes, my mentor.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>     “Darklight, your skills are unmatched by any DarkClan cat before you.  Go forth, my friend.  Go forth, and bring peace to our great ShadowClan.”</em>
</p><p>     Sunlight somehow managed to deactivate the Force-Crystal piece.  He struggled to stand, but his legs would not support him; they buckled and he twisted to the ground.</p><p>     He huddled against the stone, blind with pain.</p><p>     Lightstar was as sympathetic as the root of an oak tree.  “Warned, you were.”</p><p>     Sunlight mewled, “I should have let them <em>kill</em> me …”</p><p>     “What?”</p><p>     “No.  That was already too late – it was already too late at Stone-Place.  The DarkClan warrior in Green-Trees – I should have died <em>there</em> … before I even <em>brought</em> him here –”</p><p>     “<em>Stop</em> this you will!”  Lightstar swatted his ear sharp enough to straighten him up.  “<em>Make</em> a LightClan cat fall, one cannot; beyond even Darkshadow, this is.  <em>Chose</em> this, Skystalker did.”</p><p>     Sunlight lowered his head.  “And I’m afraid I might know why.”</p><p>     “Why?  <em>Why</em> matters not.  There <em>is</em> no <em>why</em>.  There is only a DarkClan leader, and his apprentice.  Two DarkClan cats.”  Lightstar leaned close.  “And two LightClan cats.”</p><p>     Sunlight let out a shaky breath, but he still couldn’t meet the gaze of the ancient leader.  “I’ll take Darkshadow.”</p><p>     “Strong enough to face Darkshadow, you will never be.  Die you will, and painfully.”</p><p>     “Don’t make me kill Skystalker,” he mewed. “He’s like my <em>brother</em>, Lightstar.”</p><p>     “The cat you trained, gone he is – twisted by the dark side.  Consumed by Darklight.  Out of this misery, you must put him.  To visit the new ShadowClan leader, <em>my</em> duty will be.”</p><p>     Now Sunlight did face him.  “Darkshadow faced Violetlight and Brownlight and Streamlight and Tinlight – four of the greatest warriors our Clan has ever trained.  By himself.  Even both of us together wouldn’t have a chance.”</p><p>     “True,” Lightstar replied. “But both of us apart, a chance we might <em>create</em> …”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>When fooling your enemy goes horribly sideways ....</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Light and Shadow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Climax part 1 is here!  Climax part 2 is Sunday.  We're getting close....</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Goldpelt turned and looked up at the familiar hiss.  There was an equally familiar tom crouched on the ledge above the one Goldpelt had been standing on.</p><p>     “Sunlight!”  He was quick to check for any watching den-guards before beckoning the sage down.  “Come inside, quickly.  Before anyone sees.”</p><p>     As Sunlight dropped down and entered the den, he asked, “Has Skystalker been here?”</p><p>     “Yes,” Goldpelt mewed. “He arrived shortly after the attack on the LightClan camp.  He sounded very worried about –”</p><p>     He cut himself off when he noticed the strange look on Sunlight’s face.  One he had never seen before.</p><p>     What had happened in the past couple of sunrises?</p><p>     Berryheart hurried out of the nesting chamber before Goldpelt could question Sunlight further.  He was still mildly astonished at how easily she seemed to move despite her heavier-than-usual body, bounding over to greet Sunlight joyfully.</p><p>     Sunlight looked at them both and launched into a partial explanation of the one Skystalker hadn’t had the time to give; he told them about Foxstar (<em>Shadowstar</em> now), and a DarkClan cat called Darkshadow, and the fall of the Tribe of Gathering (which they’d learned at the meeting), and the dark side of the Force, and really, they couldn’t follow most of it.  The only parts they clearly understood were the ones about LightClan being all but wiped out (Skystalker had told them that before he left) and the not-altogether-unexpected revelation that Sunlight had come seeking Skystalker.  They <em>were</em> Clanmates and friends, after all, and yet –</p><p>     And yet something felt … off.</p><p>     “When was the last time either of you saw him?  Do you know where he is?”</p><p>     Goldpelt and Berryheart glanced at each other.</p><p>     “No,” Berryheart mewed.</p><p>     “What is this really about?” Goldpelt asked.</p><p>     “Berryheart, Goldpelt, you must help me,” Sunlight mewed. “Skystalker must be found.  He must be stopped.”</p><p>     “<em>Stopped</em>?  How can you <em>say</em> that?”  Berryheart stepped back in alarm.</p><p>     “The war?  It was never the Tribe of Gathering against the Tribe of Shadows.  It was Foxstar, <em>Shadow</em>star, against LightClan.  We lost.  The rest of it was just kit-play.”</p><p>     “It was real enough for every cat who <em>died</em>!”</p><p>     “Yes.”  Now Sunlight lowered his eyes.  “Including LightClan’s kits.”</p><p>     “What?”</p><p>     “They were <em>murdered</em>.  I saw it.”  He looked each of them in the eye.  “They were murdered by Skystalker.”</p><p>     “It’s a <em>lie</em> –” Berryheart spun around and stalked away. “He could <em>never</em> … he could never … not my Skystalker …”</p><p>     Goldpelt vehemently agreed.  “Whatever you think you saw, you must have seen it wrong.  You <em>know</em> my brother would throw himself into a thorn-filled pit than raised a paw to a kit!  Don’t you?”</p><p>     Sunlight regarded them with sadness and pity, and his voice was soft and slow.  “He must be found.”</p><p>     Goldpelt blood chilled and Berryheart stared at the sage in horror.</p><p>     “You’ve decided to kill him.”</p><p>     Sunlight mewed gravely, “He has become a grave threat.”</p><p>     At this, Berryheart staggered, and Goldpelt was forced to hold himself back from lunging at Sunlight to catch her.  Slowly, he convinced her to sit down.</p><p>     Sunlight suddenly seemed to realize something.</p><p>     “Skystalker is the father, isn’t he?”</p><p>     Berryheart looked away.  Goldpelt glared at Sunlight.</p><p>     The sage mewed, hushed, “I’m very sorry, Berryheart.  If it could be different …”</p><p>     “Go away, Sunlight.  We won’t help you.”  The younger tom lashed his tail.  “We won’t help you kill him.”</p><p>     Sunlight mewed again, “I’m very sorry,” and left.</p><p>     They sat in silence for a moment, then Berryheart rose and padded back to the nesting chamber.  Goldpelt followed, keeping close in case she might need aid.  He watched her reach into the moss of her nest and pull out something he recognized: a small, round Twoleg-thing with a colored stone attached to it.</p><p>     “Did Skystalker give you that?”</p><p>     “Yes.  You know what it is?”</p><p>     “Of course.  He found it during one of our explorations back in the Great-Sand-Place.  As soon as he saw it he told me that he was going to give it to the most important cat in his life.  Aside from his dear little brother, of course.”</p><p>     She purred at that.</p><p>     He continued, “I had no idea you still had it.”</p><p>     She looked at it fondly.  “It makes me feel better.  It helps me to … remember the cat who gave it to me and how much he means to me.”</p><p>     After a few heartbeats, a determined expression crossed her face.  She slipped the loop around her right foreleg, checking to ensure it would stay as she stood up and left the chamber.  Goldpelt went to her side, recognizing her intentions without her uttering a thing.  They approached the den entrance as Bluestripe and Rosefur entered.</p><p>     “What’s going on?” Rosefur asked immediately.</p><p>     “Let Jayeye know we’re leaving.”</p><p>     “Leaving?” Bluestripe echoed. “Where to?”</p><p>     The mediators paused and gave each other a significant look.</p><p>     “<em>We</em>,” Goldpelt answered, “are going to the Fire-river-mountain.”</p><p> </p><p>     From the shadows just inside the forest’s edge, Sunlight watched Jayeye try to talk Berryheart out of it.</p><p>     “Berryheart,” the ForestClan warrior protested, “at least let me come with you –”</p><p>     “Thank you, Jayeye, but there’s no need,” Berryheart mewed. “The war’s over, and … this is a <em>personal</em> errand.  And, Jayeye?  It must <em>remain</em> personal, do you understand?  You know nothing of our leaving, nor where we are bound, nor when we can be expected to return.”</p><p>     “As you wish, Berryheart,” Jayeye mewed reluctantly. “But I strongly disagree with this decision.”</p><p>     “We’ll be fine, Jayeye.  After all, Goldpelt and I both know how to defend ourselves.  <em>And</em> we have Bluestripe and Rosefur with us.”</p><p>     After Jayeye finally turned away, the group of four hurried away.  Sunlight was quick to follow.</p><p>     It didn’t take long for him to realize they were headed to the same Thundersnake den that he had arrived through.</p><p> </p><p>     A Force-Crystal pulsed.</p><p>     Lightstar opened his eyes in the darkness.</p><p>
  <em>     “Yes, Sunlight?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>     “We’ve climbed into a Thundersnake and it’s about to depart.  Are you in position?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>     “I am.”</em>
</p><p>     A moment of silence.</p><p>
  <em>     “Lightstar … if we don’t see each other again –”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>     “Think not of <strong>after</strong>, Sunlight.  Always now, even eternity will be.”</em>
</p><p>     Another moment of silence.</p><p>     Longer.</p><p>
  <em>     “May the Force be with you.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>     “It is.  And may the Force be with you, young Sunlight.”</em>
</p><p>     The connection ended.</p><p>     Lightstar rose.</p><p>     He slipped out of the hole where he had waited in meditation and into the empty tunnel just outside of the Gathering chamber.</p><p>     Lightstar stretched blood back into his body.</p><p>     This was his time.</p><p>     Fifty-six seasons of study and training, of teaching and of meditation, all now focused and refined, and resolved into this single moment; the sole purpose of his long existence had been to prepare him to enter the heart of night and bring his light against the darkness.</p><p>     He shook the dust from his grey fur.</p><p>     He adjusted the green Force-Crystal bound to his right shoulder.</p><p>     With reverence, with gratitude, without fear, and without anger, Lightstar went forth to war.</p><p> </p><p>     Below the ledge at the center of the Gathering chamber was another, smaller chamber; it was little more than a preparations area where the leader, deputy, and medicine cat of the Tribe of Gathering might gather in private discussion before emerging into the Gathering chamber itself.</p><p>     A shadow sat in the center of the chamber, deep in thought.  A pair of guards flanked the entrance with a blue tabby tom pacing back and forth between them.  An ear twisted toward the entrance and the shadow turned in time to see the three cats suddenly fly into the walls and crumple to the ground.  The now-empty space revealed another presence, tiny and aged.  But his physical presence was only an illusion; the truth of him could be seen only in the Force.</p><p>     In the Force, he was a fountain of light.</p><p>     “Pity your new Clanmate I do; so lately an apprentice, so soon without a mentor.”</p><p>     “Why, Lightstar, what a delightful surprise!”  The voice of the shadow purred with anticipation.  “Let me be the first to <em>happily</em> welcome you to ShadowClan territory!”</p><p>     “Find it happy, you will not.  Nor will the murderer you call Darklight.”</p><p>     “Ah.”  The shadow rose and stepped closer into the light.  “Who is it, if I may ask?  Who have you sent to kill him?”</p><p>     “Enough it is that you know your <em>own</em> destroyer.”</p><p>     “Oh, pish, Lightstar.  It wouldn’t be Sunlight, would it?  <em>Please</em> tell me it’s Sunlight – it would be <em>so</em> delightful if it was …”</p><p>     “So easily slain, Sunlight is not.”</p><p>     “Neither are you, apparently; but that is about to change.”  The shadow took another step, and another.</p><p>     A Force-Crystal flashed, green as sunlight in a forest.  “The test of that, this day will be.”</p><p>     “Even a whisker of the dark side is more power than your LightClan arrogance can conceive; living in the light, you have never seen the depth of the darkness.”</p><p>     The shadow shifted into a battle-crouch.</p><p>     “Until now.”</p><p>     Lightning snapped from an outstretched paw, and the battle was on.</p><p> </p><p>     The torrent of lightning that forked from the paw of a DarkClan cat bent away from the gesture of a LightClan cat, and burned a scar across the stone wall.</p><p>     Their clash transcended the personal; when new lightning blazed, it was not Shadowstar burning Lightstar with his hate, it was the leader of DarkClan scorching the leader of LightClan into a smoldering huddle of grey fur.</p><p>     Thousands of seasons of hidden DarkClan cats exulted in their victory.</p><p>     “Your time is <em>over</em>!  <em>DarkClan</em> rules all cats!  Now and <em>forever</em>!”</p><p>     And it was the whole of LightClan that flew from its huddle, making of its own body a weapon to throw DarkClan to the ground.</p><p>     “At an end your rule is, and not short enough it was, I must say.”</p><p>     Claws blazing the color of life extended.</p><p>     From the shadows, a red Force-Crystal – a holdout, an easily concealed backup, a tiny bit of treachery expressing the core of DarkClan training – spat flame-colored light that flickered through another set of extended claws.</p><p>     When those claws met, it was more than Lightstar against Shadowstar, more than the generations of DarkClan against the legions of LightClan; this was the expression of the fundamental conflict of the world itself.</p><p>     Light against dark.</p><p>     Winner take all.</p><p> </p><p>     There came a turning point in the clash of the light against the dark.</p><p>     It did not come from a flash of lightning or slash of Force-imbued claws, though there were those in plenty; it did not come from a flying kick or a precise lunge, though these were traded, too.</p><p>     It came as the battle shifted from the preparation chamber to the speaking ledge, so that it became a blazing point of battle flaring at the focus of the vast emptiness of the Gathering chamber; it came as the Force and the full weight of the combatants ripped Twoleg-stumps away from their places and made of them projectiles crashing and crushing against each other in a rolling thunder-roar that echoed the mediators’ acclaim for the new great Clan.</p><p>     It came when the incarnation of light resolved into the lineage of LightClan; when the lineage of LightClan refined into one single cat.</p><p>     It came when Lightstar found himself alone against the dark.</p><p>     In that lightning-struck whirlwind of claws and fangs and lights and flying debris, his vision finally pierced the darkness that had clouded the Force.</p><p>     Finally, he saw the truth.</p><p>     This truth: that he, the incarnation of light, leader of Leaders, the fiercest, most implacable, most devastatingly powerful foe the darkness had ever known …</p><p>     just –</p><p>     didn’t –</p><p><em>     have</em> it.</p><p>     He’d never had it.  He had lost before he started.</p><p>     He had lost before he was born.</p><p>     DarkClan had changed.  DarkClan had grown, had adapted, had invested a thousand seasons’ intensive study into every aspect of not only the Force but LightClan lore itself, in preparation for exactly this day.  The cats of DarkClan had remade themselves.</p><p>     They had become <em>new</em>.</p><p>     While LightClan –</p><p>     LightClan had spent those same seasons training to refight the <em>last</em> war.</p><p>     The new DarkClan cats could not be destroyed with Force-imbued claws; they could not be burned away by any blaze of the Force.  The brighter his light, the darker their shadow.  How could one win a war against the dark when war itself had become the dark’s own weapon?</p><p>     He knew, in that heartbeat, that this insight held the hope of the world.  But if he fell here, that hope would die with him.</p><p><em>     Hmmm,</em> Lightstar thought. <em>A problem this is …</em></p><p> </p><p>     The end came with astonishing suddenness.</p><p>     The shadow could feel how much it cost the little grey crowfood to bend back his lightnings into the entrapment of energy that enclosed them both; the tiny cat had reached the limits of his strength.  The shadow released its power for a heartbeat, long enough only to whirl away through the air and alight upon one of the stumps as it flew past, and the other leapt to follow –</p><p>     Half a heartbeat too slow.</p><p>     The shadow unleashed its lightning while his opponent was still in the air, and the tiny cat took its full power.  The shock flung him backward to crash against the side of the ledge, and he fell. </p><p>     He fell farther than expected.</p><p>     The Twoleg-stumps flung about by the Force had created a hole several foxlengths deep, and as the tiny grey cat fell through, finally, above, the victorious shadow became once again only Shadowstar: an old, tired tom, gasping for air as he sat heavily on the stump.</p><p>     Old he might have been, but there was nothing wrong with his eyesight; he scanned the wreckage below, and he did not see a body.</p><p>     He leapt down from the stump and made his way toward the chamber entrance.  Rogue-warriors started swarming into the chamber.</p><p>     “It was Lightstar,” he growled as he approached them. “Another assassination attempt.  Find him and kill him.  If you have to, tear the entire den down.”</p><p>     He didn’t have time to direct the search personally.  The Force hummed a warning in his bones: Darklight was in danger.</p><p>     Mortal danger.</p><p>     Rogue-warriors scattered.  He stopped one tom.  “You.  Gather two patrols and have them meet me at the Gathering Place entrance.  Move quickly.”</p><p>     The tom lowered his head, and Shadowstar, with vigor that surprised even himself, ran.</p><p> </p><p>     With the help of the Force, Lightstar raced along the small tunnel below the Gathering den faster than any regular cat could run; despite the tunnel being too small for his pursuers, he knew he couldn’t afford to stop.</p><p>     He reached the end and found himself blocked by stones and wood.  Without hesitation he sliced through the blockage and dived headlong into the night.  He let the Force guide him into the forest and toward the dead tree where Balefur and his Clanmates waited.</p><p>     Lightstar came to a halt next to the MountainClan mediator and sat down wearily, squeezing his eyes shut.</p><p>     “Lightstar?” Balefur mewed. “Are you wounded?”</p><p>     “Only my pride,” Lightstar replied, and meant it, though the MountainClan cats could not possibly understand how deep that wound went, nor how it bled. “Only my pride.  Failed I have.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Rage and Regret</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>One more to go!  And this one's a doozy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Goldpelt was becoming more concerned about his ability to keep his promise.  Despite the constant ground-shakes the closer they got to the Fire-river-mountain, Berryheart, heavy with kits as she was, refused to stop and rest.</p><p>     “What about that group of loners we were told about, Berryheart?” Rosefur asked again. “You could rest there while the rest of us find Skystalker –”</p><p>     “No,” Berryheart insisted. “I <em>have</em> to see him myself.”</p><p>     “But you could do that when –”</p><p>     Bluestripe’s thought was left unfinished when the ground shook suddenly and violently, then part of the ground gave way and they were forced to scramble away.  Once the ground settled again they looked.  To their collective dismay the crack had separated Berryheart from the others: Berryheart closer to their goal; the other three cats further behind.</p><p>     Goldpelt examined it warily.  “I don’t think we can jump this.  It’s too far.”</p><p>     “<em>Now</em> what do we do?” Bluestripe asked.</p><p>     Berryheart let out a steadying breath.  “I’ll go on ahead.  You three find another way around.” </p><p>     She turned and continued her ascent as Goldpelt and the others hurried to find an easier way across.</p><p>     None noticed their silent pursuer as he followed Berryheart, crossing the gap with a leap beyond any normal cat’s abilities.</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker sat heavily on a relatively stable ledge to catch his breath.  It had taken almost a full sunrise to remove and bury all of the bodies and he was growing weary of it all.</p><p><em>     I need a long, peaceful break,</em> he thought.</p><p>     After a long moment, he rose and slowly started to head back down the mountain.  He’d sensed the ground-shakes getting gradually worse and a glance at the fire-river revealed that it had grown, and he knew that he would need to tread carefully if he was to leave without being burnt.</p><p>     He’d gone only a couple of treelengths when the wind shifted and a familiar scent reached him.</p><p>
  <em>     Berryheart?  No, it couldn’t be …</em>
</p><p>     Skystalker looked ahead and saw Berryheart hurrying in his direction.</p><p>     Worry ate at his heart as he picked up the pace.</p><p> </p><p>     Berryheart stumbled the last few steps across the shaky ground to meet Skystalker.</p><p>     After the ground had separated her from her Clanmates, her heart had grown heavier with relentless mind-shredding dread, and now she was just so grateful, so incredibly grateful, that she felt nearly faint with it: grateful that he was alive, grateful that he’d come bounding over the rocks to meet her, that he was still strong and beautiful, that his breath was warm against the top of her head and his pelt was soft against hers.</p><p>     "What are you doing here?" he asked, worry in his voice. "It's too -"</p><p>     “Skystalker, my <em>Skystalker</em> …”  She shivered against his chest.  “I’ve been so <em>frightened</em> …”</p><p>     “Shh.  Shh, it’s all right.”  He let a comforting purr rumble in his chest and throat until her trembling began to fade, then he tilted his head until he could look into her eyes.  “You never need to worry about me.  I can keep us safe.”</p><p>     “It wasn’t that, my love, it was – oh, Skystalker, he said such terrible things about you!”</p><p>     Skystalker blinked down at her.  “About me?  Who?”  His voice and eye held obvious confusion.  “What did they tell you?”</p><p>     “Sunlight.”  She attempted to steady her breathing.  “He said – he told me you turned to the dark side, that you murdered your Clanmates … even <em>kits</em> …”</p><p>     Just having gotten the statement out made her feel better, now all she had to do was rest against him while he nuzzled her and promised her he would never do anything like any of that, and a weak purr started in her throat as she looked him in the eye –</p><p>     And she saw all of that on his face along with an expression of hesitant hope.</p><p>     “Sunlight’s alive?” he rasped finally.</p><p>     His voice trembled with barely contained emotion, and suddenly he was seeking support from her.</p><p>     “Yes – he said he was looking for you …”</p><p>     “Did you tell him where I am?”</p><p>     “<em>No</em>, Skystalker!  He wants to <em>kill</em> you.  None of us told him <em>anything</em> – we wouldn’t!”</p><p>     “Why would he –” He stiffened, then his eyes closed with a low moan. “I know why he said that.  I saw a glimpse of the attack through the Force.  I passed the warning on and ran to help Violetlight and the others, but I was too late.  The <em>only</em> way I could stay alive was to <em>pretend</em> to swear allegiance to the dark side.  If I had not done that I would not have gotten to the camp in time to smuggle the kits out with Tawnypaw’s help, or used shredded freshkill in a pool of cat-blood and an <em>already</em> dead body to set up one of the chambers to <em>appear</em> as though I’d killed the kits and one of the sages.”</p><p>     “Oh, Skystalker.”  Despite her relief at his confirmation, her heart still ached for him.</p><p>     He shook himself.  “I need to talk to him.  He needs to hear –”</p><p>     “You can’t,” she wailed quietly. “Goldpelt and I tried to talk him down and he wouldn’t <em>listen</em> to us.”</p><p>     “I have to try.”</p><p>     She pressed her face into his chest-fur.  “Skystalker, can’t we just … <em>go</em>?  Please.  Let’s leave.  Together.  Today.  Now.  Before something happens –”</p><p>     “I –” He stopped himself and met her eyes, torn between her offer and his desire to find his former mentor.</p><p>     Then the choice was taken from him.</p><p>     From behind her, calmly precise: “Berryheart.  Move away from him.”</p><p>     “Sunlight?”  She whirled, and he was two foxlengths away, still and sad.  “<em>No</em>!”</p><p>     “Sunlight!” meowed her love. “I can explain everything …”</p><p>     She turned back, but he was now focused on the other tom.</p><p>     His eye was full of tepid hope.</p><p>     “Skystalker –”</p><p>     “Berryheart, move <em>away</em>.”  There was an urgency in Sunlight’s voice.  “He’s not who you think he is.  He <em>will</em> harm you.”</p><p>     Berryheart turned to face Sunlight and shifted herself between them.  “No, Sunlight – don’t …”</p><p>     From her position she spotted three shapes below them, quickly and carefully moving across the rocks.  <em>Please hurry,</em> she begged.</p><p>     Skystalker’s voice was pleading behind her.  “Sunlight, please.  If you’d just let me explain –”</p><p>     “Let her go, Skystalker.”</p><p>     “I’m not –”</p><p>     The ground trembled for a heartbeat, then it bucked and they were thrown off balance.  Part of the ground tilted toward the three cats below sending a wave of stones and dust down onto their heads.</p><p>     Then Berryheart found nothing but air under her paws,</p><p>     She turned as she fell.  She saw Skystalker fighting the ground itself to reach her, extending a paw to catch her with the Force as he had once before –</p><p>     And she saw Sunlight throw himself at Skystalker, and the Force disappeared leaving her with only air and the rocks below.</p><p>     Then a white flash of impact flung her into the night.</p><p> </p><p>     Skystalker kicked Sunlight away and raced to the hole.  He could only stand frozen as he looked down.  He could see her body far below, could see how still it was.  He tried reaching with the Force but there was so much turmoil in it that he couldn’t sense her at all.</p><p>     Not Berryheart.</p><p>     Nor Bluestripe.</p><p>     Nor Rosefur.</p><p>     Nor even his beloved brother.</p><p>     But he <em>could</em> sense Sunlight behind him.</p><p>     “Sunlight, what have you <em>done</em>?”  His voice sounded distant, as if from underwater.</p><p>     Sunlight looked at him sadly.  “If you hadn’t turned she would still be safe –”</p><p>     “<em>No</em>,” Skystalker hissed.  He felt the anger, the hurt, the mind-numbing <em>pain</em>.  <em>They’re gone, all of them are <strong>gone</strong>,</em> echoed in his head, shredded his heart.</p><p>     He turned to face his former mentor.  “She came because of <em>you</em>.  They <em>all</em> came because of <em>you</em>.”  For the first time since his mother’s death, Skystalker didn’t bother to hide his fury and his hurt.  “<em>You</em> jumped to conclusions.  <em>You</em> refused to listen to them <em>and</em> to me when we tried to tell you the <em>truth</em>.”</p><p>     Sunlight kept looking at him without a shred of sympathy.  Did he not even care?</p><p>     Skystalker bared his teeth.  “You never wanted me in the Clan to begin with.  Do you truly believe so little of me that you can so <em>easily</em> doubt my loyalty to my own Clan?”</p><p>     “You turned your back on us when you swore allegiance to DarkClan.  And I will do what I must.”  Sunlight activated his Force-Crystal.</p><p>     “I <em>lied</em> to Darkshadow,” the angry grief-stricken tom snarled. “I <em>saved</em> LightClan’s kits.  Just a sunrise ago I gave what was left of the Tribe of Shadows a chance for <em>peace</em>.  And <em>you</em> – <em>you</em> killed the cats who tried to tell you the truth!  You blinded yourself to <em>everything</em> and <em>they</em> paid the price.”</p><p>     “Skystalker –”</p><p>     “My <em>friends</em>.  My <em>brother</em>.  My <em>mate</em> and <em>kits</em>.  They’re all <em>dead</em>!”</p><p>     “Skystalker –”</p><p>     The younger tom’s right fore-claws blazed blue.</p><p>     “They’re <em>dead</em>.  And it’s <em>all</em> <em>your</em> <em>fault</em>!” Darklight snarled, and leapt.</p><p>     Sunlight met him in the air.</p><p>     Blue claws met, and the mountain above echoed their lightning with a thunder of fire.</p><p> </p><p>     Goldpelt shoved the last of the debris away with a gasp.</p><p>     “Is everyone all right?”</p><p>     He heard Bluestripe’s voice somewhere to his left.  “We’re fine.  Dusty but fine.”</p><p>     Rosefur climbed out and shook dust from her fur.  Then she noticed something further ahead and froze, eyes widening.  “Oh no!”</p><p>     The toms looked over.</p><p>     Goldpelt’s heart sank.  “<em>Berryheart</em>!”</p><p>     Bluestripe reached her first.  He leaned close to her muzzle.  “She’s alive,” he breathed.</p><p>     “But she’s hurt badly,” Rosefur mewed worriedly. “She needs a medicine cat.”</p><p>     “We’re too far away to reach a medicine cat in time.”  Goldpelt tried to peer up to where she had fallen from but couldn’t see or hear anything.  Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something.</p><p>     Bluestripe watched Goldpelt dart off in confusion, blinking as the yellow tom came back dragging what appeared to be a Twoleg-pelt of some sort.  “What are you –”</p><p>     Goldpelt pulled the pelt close to Berryheart.  “Help me get her on.”</p><p>     “Why?” Bluestripe asked.</p><p>     “It’s an old trick we used back in the Great-Sand-Place.  We can bring her somewhere safe.”</p><p>     “Then what?”</p><p>     Goldpelt’s eyes glinted.  “Once she’s safe, I’m coming back for my brother.  And I <em>will</em> <em>not</em> leave without him.”</p><p> </p><p>     Claw-to-claw, they were identical.  After moons in sparring, they knew each other as well as littermates; they were complementary halves of a single warrior.</p><p>     In every exchange, Sunlight gave ground.  It was his way.  And he knew that to strike the other tom down would burn his own heart to ash.</p><p>     Exchanges flashed.  Leaps were sidestepped or met with swift kicks; low swipes hopped over and jabs countered.  Dust and stones were kicked up by the combatants, causing the heated air to become clouded as much with debris as the increasing steam.</p><p>     Sunlight barely caught some and flung them at Darklight: a desperation move.  Anything to distract him; anything to slow him down.  Easily, contemptuously, Darklight sent them back, and the surrounding cloud grew thicker between them.</p><p>     “You’re going to <em>pay</em> for what you did, Sunlight.”  Darklight’s voice had gone deeper than a lake and bleak as the stone cliffs.  Nothing of Skystalker’s was left now.</p><p>     “I’ve heard that before,” Sunlight hissed as he dodged and countered madly, “but I never thought I’d hear <em>you</em> saying it to <em>me</em>.”</p><p>     A howl of the Force flung Sunlight back into a cliffside, smashing breath from his body, leaving him swaying, half stunned.  Darklight advanced; even his blind eye was full of flames.  Summoning what strength he could manage Sunlight hurled himself away, and Darklight’s lunge missed by a mouse-tail.  Sunlight allowed himself a quick sigh of relief –</p><p>     Only to realize he was at the edge of a cliff with a fire-river right below him.</p><p><em>     Oh,</em> Sunlight thought. <em>Oh, this is bad.</em></p><p> </p><p>     With Darklight advancing again, his gaze promising death, Sunlight let go.</p><p>     Of everything.</p><p>     His hopes.  His fears.  His obligation to LightClan, his promise to Moonlight, his failure with Skystalker.</p><p>     And he leapt backward to the ledge on the other side of the fire-river.</p><p>     Darklight followed, constantly attacking; Sunlight again gave ground, retreating along a narrow pathway high above the shoreline of a lake of fire.</p><p>     The ground purred with death at his back, only a heartbeat away, somewhere out there among the rivers of flame and melted stone.  Sunlight let Darklight drive him toward it.</p><p>     It was a place, he decided, they should reach together.</p><p>     Darklight forced him back and back, slamming each blow down with strength that seemed to flow from the mountain overhead.  He twisted and dodged and sliced sharp shards of stone from the edge of the pathway and threw them at Sunlight with the full heat of his fury.</p><p>     A rumble sounded from the mountain and fire rained around them.</p><p>     Sunlight backed to the end of the ledge; behind him was another long and narrow path no wider than a fox, connected to a ledge on the far side, over a river that flowed with blazing melted stone.  Sunlight leapt down onto the path without hesitation, his balance flawless as he landed and spun around.</p><p>     Darklight came on.</p><p>     Out on the narrow ledge, the opponents blurred even faster than before.  They lunged and slashed and blocked.  Balls of fire-water thundered to the ground below, shedding drops of burning stone that struck the sides of the ledge.  Smoke shrouded the light of the sun, and now the only light came from the glow of the fire-water below them and from their claws themselves.  Flares of Force-Energy crackled and spat.</p><p>     This was not DarkClan against LightClan.  This was not light against dark or good against evil; it had nothing to do with duty or philosophy, belief or morals.</p><p>     It was Darklight against Sunlight.</p><p>     Personally.</p><p>     Just the two of them, and the damage they had done to each other.</p><p>     Sunlight backflipped from the pathway to a ledge lower down; when Darklight flew in pursuit, Sunlight leapt again.  They spun and whirled from one ledge to the next; they battled out onto rocks that stood just tall enough that their paws didn’t touch the fire-water, and Sunlight, out on the edge of a longer stone, hunching under a curve of stone that splashed aside waves of fire-water, deflecting Force blasts and countering strikes from this creature of rage that had been his best friend, suddenly comprehended an unexpected profound truth.</p><p>     The tom he faced was everything Sunlight had devoted his life to destroying:  Murderer.  Traitor.  Fallen Force-user.  DarkClan warrior.  And here, and now, despite it all …</p><p>     Sunlight still cared about him.</p><p>     Lightstar had told him, flat-out: <em>Allow such attachments to pass out of one’s life, a LightClan cat must,</em> but Sunlight had never let himself understand.  He had argued for Skystalker, made excuses, covered for him again and again and again; all while this attachment he denied even feeling had blinded him to the dark path his best friend walked.</p><p>     Sunlight knew there was, in the end, only one answer for attachment …</p><p>     He let it go.</p><p>     The ground shook again, and the top of the rock broke loose, sending both cats off-balance, flinging themselves desperately at a large rock floating in the lake of fire.</p><p>     Darklight recovered first and lunged with a howl that echoed the mountain above.  Sunlight moved to meet him and the pair grappled wildly, each trying to shove the other into the fire-water, and as they traded blows the rock drifted closer to a fiery waterfall.</p><p>     Sunlight decided he didn’t really want to see what was at the bottom.</p><p>     Darklight swiped at Sunlight’s face, Sunlight countered with a solid, two-pawed kick that knocked the two apart.  Before Darklight could recover his balance, Sunlight took a running leap toward the lake’s shore.</p><p>     Toward.  Not quite <em>to</em>.</p><p>     But the Force had led him here, and again it had not betrayed him: below, purring along the lake’s surface was another floating rock.</p><p>     Sunlight flipped in the air and let the Force bring him to a light-footed landing, then he turned to watch as the other stone disappeared over the brink of the falls until it vanished into invisible destruction.</p><p>     Sunlight lowered his head.  “Goodbye, old friend.”</p><p>     But the Force hissed a warning, and Sunlight lifted his head in time to see Darklight come hurtling toward him out from the clouds of smoke above the falls.  Aided as he was by the Force, Darklight was easily able to land between Sunlight and the shore.  Sunlight shifted weight one way, then another, but Darklight was nimble despite his blind eye; there was no way around, and this close to the fire-water, the heat was intense enough to crisp Sunlight’s fur.</p><p>     “This is the end for you, Sunlight,” he snarled. “I wish it were otherwise.”</p><p>     “Yes, <em>Darklight</em>, so do I,” Sunlight replied as he raced into a leaping dive, claws outstretched.</p><p>     Darklight leaned aside and deflected the lunge almost contemptuously; he missed a cut at Sunlight’s legs as the LightClan sage flew past him.</p><p>     Sunlight turned into a forward roll that left him barely teetering on the edge of a low cliff, just above the black sand of the shore.  Darklight snarled a curse as he realized he’d been fooled, and swung around into a crouch.</p><p>     Sunlight turned to face him.  “Don’t try it,” he warned. “I have the high ground.”</p><p>     Darklight bared his teeth.  “You overestimate yourself, Sunlight,” he replied, and leapt at Sunlight –</p><p>     A heartbeat too slow.</p><p>     Sunlight’s whirl to defend didn’t meet Darklight’s claws.  It met his face.  Then his left side down toward his belly.</p><p>     And while Darklight was still in the air, limp form only starting their topple down the cliff, Sunlight’s recovery to guard brought his right claws down Darklight’s right leg where his Force-Crystal was attached.  He stepped back as Sunlight fell.</p><p>     Darklight hit the sand with a moan of pain.  The new claw-marks smoldered with a burning red glow.</p><p><em>     The same color,</em> Sunlight observed distantly, <em>as a DarkClan cat’s Force-Crystal.</em></p><p>     Darklight scrabbled weakly at the black sand, but his attempts bore no strength though he didn’t slip closer to the fire-water.  The sand itself was hot enough that the bottoms of his paws started to blister and his pelt began to smolder.</p><p>     Sunlight hooked the fallen Force-Crystal with a claw.  He lifted his right fore-leg and examined both Force-Crystals.  Like Sunlight, Skystalker’s Force-Crystal had turned blue when he’d meditated on it, tuning the crystal to his own Force-Energy.  So similar they were.</p><p>     So differently they had been used.</p><p>     He looked down.  Darklight was moving his head one way, then another, blindly seeking something, and his light brown fur had blackened, and was beginning to char.</p><p>     “You were the chosen one!  It was said you would destroy DarkClan, not join it.  It was you who would bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness.  You were my dearest friend,” meowed Sunlight. “I cared for you, but I could not save you.”</p><p>     A nudge from the Force, and Sunlight felt the darkness closing in around them both.  He understood: Foxstar, Darkshadow, had arrived.  <em>Now,</em> he supposed, <strong><em>Shadowstar</em></strong><em>.</em></p><p>     Lightstar had failed.  He might have died.</p><p>     He might have left Sunlight alone: the last cat of LightClan.</p><p>     Below his paws, Darklight focused weakly on the sage.</p><p>     “I <em>hate</em> you,” he hissed.</p><p>     Sunlight looked down.  It would be a mercy to kill him.</p><p>     He was not feeling merciful.</p><p>     He was feeling calm, and clear, and he knew that to climb down to that black beach might cost him more time than he had.</p><p>     Another DarkClan cat approached.</p><p>     In the end, there was only one choice.  It was a choice he had made many moons before, when he had become a warrior, and sworn himself to LightClan forever.  In the end, he was still Sunlight, and he was still a cat of LightClan, and he would not murder a helpless cat.</p><p>     He would leave it to the will of the Force.</p><p>     He picked up the Force-Crystal, then turned and walked away.</p><p>     After a few heartbeats, he began to run.</p><p>     Sunlight never looked back.</p><p> </p><p>     The sun was sinking and the sky darkening when Sunlight ran into a pair of familiar faces.</p><p>     “Bluestripe?  Goldpelt?”</p><p>     Bluestripe addressed him immediately between breaths.  “We left Rosefur and Berryheart with some friendly loners.  One of them just had kits of her own so when we –”</p><p>     “Wait,” Sunlight interrupted, dropping the Force-Crystal in his mouth. “Berryheart’s alive?”</p><p>     “For now,” Bluestripe answered. “She took a hard fall and she’s badly hurt.”</p><p>     “You <em>knew</em>?” Goldpelt meowed. “How could –”</p><p>     Then the yellow tom’s eyes landed on the Force-Crystal at Sunlight’s paws.  He stiffened.</p><p>     “That’s my brother’s Force-Crystal,” Goldpelt rasped.</p><p>     Sunlight looked down, then back up.  “I had no –”</p><p>     “How could you?”  Goldpelt’s voice rose.  “How <em>could</em> you?”</p><p>     Sunlight drew a deep breath.  “I told you before: He had gone to the dark.  There was nothing more I could do for him.”</p><p>     “You could have <em>listened</em>!  You could have <em>asked</em> him about what you <em>thought</em> you saw!”  Goldpelt’s voice held the same grief and outrage his brother’s had.  “For that matter, you could have asked <em>Balefur</em>.”</p><p>     Sunlight blinked.  “What?”</p><p>     “He told us before you turned up in our den that he saw Tawnypaw with the kits.  Which <em>we</em> could have told you if you had bothered to <em>ask</em>, <strong><em>mouse-brain</em></strong>!”</p><p>     “Goldpelt …”  Sunlight’s throat tightened.</p><p>     “Berryheart is <em>dying</em> and if the kits <em>do</em> survive, they will be <em>parentless</em>.  Because <em>you</em> were too <em>mouse-hearted</em> to ask for the truth before acting on an assumption!”</p><p>     Sunlight flinched as a lump of ice settled in his heart.</p><p>     Goldpelt tensed as though he might fly at the sage.  Then he hissed, “I <em>hate</em> you!  I’ll <em>never</em> forgive you for what you’ve done!”</p><p>     And as the grief-stricken tom raced away with his worried Clanmate chasing after him, Sunlight just stood in pained silence with another grief-stricken tom’s voice echoing in his mind:</p><p>
  <em>     Sunlight, what have you <strong>done</strong>?</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. A New LightClan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Last chapter.  Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     A heart-weary sage made his way to a small, hidden cave where a trio of loners tended to a dying she-cat.</p><p>     A group of Clan cats arrived mere heartbeats behind.</p><p>     And at the base of the Fire-river-mountain, below the red thunder of it, a DarkClan cat had already snatched from the black sands the burnt and battered body of a tom, and had already leapt for the cliffbank above with effortless strength, and had already yowled to his rogue-warriors to <em>alert the medicine cats immediately!</em></p><p>     The DarkClan cat lowered the burnt tom tenderly to the cool ground above, and laid his paw across the tom’s head, and he set his will upon him.</p><p>
  <em>     Live, Darklight.  Live, my apprentice.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>     Live.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>     Beyond the thicket that hid the cave from view, the stars glimmered in a spray of hard, cold prickles through the dark night sky.</p><p>     Beneath the thick root of a tree a foxlength away from the thicket sat Lightstar.  He did not look at the stars.</p><p>     He sat a very long time.</p><p>     Even after almost 57 seasons, the path to self-knowledge was hard enough to leave him bruised and bleeding.</p><p>     He mewed softly, but not to himself.</p><p>     Though no cat was with him, he was not alone.</p><p>     “<em>My</em> failure, this was.  Failed LightClan, I did.”</p><p>     He conversed with the Force.</p><p>     And the Force answered him.  <em>“Do not blame yourself, my old friend.”</em></p><p>     As it sometimes had these past moons, when the Force addressed him, it was with the voice of Moonlight.</p><p>     “Too old I was,” Lightstar mewed. “Too rigid.  Too sure in my knowledge of others’ minds and intentions.  Too arrogant to see that the old way is not the <em>only</em> way.  These cats, I trained to become the cats who trained me, long seasons ago – but those great cats, of a different time they were.  Changed, have the outside Clans.  Changed, <em>LightClan</em> did not – because <em>let</em> it change, <em>I</em> did not.”</p><p>
  <em>     “More easily said than done, my friend.”</em>
</p><p>     “An infinite mystery is the Force.”  Lightstar lifted his head and turned his gaze out to Silverpelt high above.  “Much to learn, there still is.”</p><p>
  <em>     “And you will have time to learn and to teach it.”</em>
</p><p>     “Infinite knowledge and instruction …”  Lightstar flicked his tail.  “Infinite time, does that require.”</p><p>
  <em>     “With my help, you can learn to traverse through the Force.  You can continue to pass your light on into the generations yet to come.”</em>
</p><p>     A tall tom with starlight in his black and white fur appeared suddenly from the emptiness of the night air.  He dipped his head to Lightstar.</p><p>     Lightstar did not move.  “Eternal life …”</p><p>
  <em>     “The ultimate goal of DarkClan, yet they can never achieve it; it comes only by the release of self, not the exaltation of self.  It comes through compassion, not greed.  Love is the answer to the darkness.”</em>
</p><p>     “Pass into StarClan, yet influence still to have …” Lightstar mused. “A power greater than all, it is.”</p><p>
  <em>     “It cannot be granted; it can only be taught.  It is yours to learn, if you wish it.”</em>
</p><p>     Slowly, Lightstar purred.  “A very great sage you have become, Moonlight.  A very great sage you always were, but too blind I was to see it.”</p><p>     He rose, and inclined his head to the starry tom in the LightClan gesture of respect.</p><p>     The head-gesture of the apprentice, in the presence of the mentor.</p><p>     “Your apprentice, I gratefully become.”</p><p>     He was well into his first lesson when a leaf crackled behind him.  He turned.</p><p>     A rabbit-length beyond stood Balefur.  He looked stricken.</p><p>     “Sunlight is asking for you inside,” he mewed. “It’s Berryheart.  She’s dying.”</p><p> </p><p>     Goldpelt crouched beside her, rubbing his tail along her back.  “It’ll be all right, Berryheart.”</p><p>     “It’s too …”  Her sides shuddered at every attempt to breathe.  “It’s so <em>hard</em>.  Skystalker should be here.”</p><p>     “I know, but you have to be strong for your kits … you have to stay <em>with</em> us.”</p><p>     Hurrying about her, a pair of she-cats, both loners, assisted with her kitting.  A third loner, Crow, left her own kits sleeping in her nest to crouch alongside Goldpelt.</p><p>     Goldpelt cast an appeal toward them.  “Can’t you do something?”</p><p>     “There’s too much internal damage.”  The cream she-cat, Pale was her name, pushed a stick over to Berryheart and silently encouraged her to bite down on it.  “All we can do is hope she survives long enough to birth these kits.  And the kits survive, too.”</p><p>     Goldpelt’s heart sank.  <em>I’m breaking my promise,</em> he thought.  He pressed his muzzle into her soft pelt as though he could keep life within her body by simple pressure.  “Berryheart, you <em>have</em> to hold on.  For Skystalker.”</p><p>     A thin moan rasped from her throat as a ripple went across her side.</p><p>     The grey and white she-cat, Mesa, he vaguely remembered, padded over and gently dropped a tiny scrap of wet fur in front of Goldpelt.  “Start licking,” she ordered, then turned back.</p><p>     With Crow’s prompting, he started licking as the tiny kit let out a series of squeaks. </p><p>     “Look, Berryheart,” he mewed. “You have a son.”</p><p>     Berryheart blinked weakly at the kit and managed a faint purr.  “He looks just like his father,” she rasped, then hissed in pain.</p><p>     Pale lifted her head and yowled at Rosefur, who’d been pacing nearby, “Come and clean this she-kit.”</p><p>     Rosefur bounded over as a third, another she-kit, slithered onto the ground.  As Goldpelt watched, Pale and Mesa nudged gently at the kit only to sigh quietly and send a regretful look toward him.  They’d lost one.</p><p>     “Goldpelt … I want to see …”</p><p>     He turned to Berryheart.  “Here.”  He moved the tom-kit gently in front of her, gesturing for Rosefur to bring the she-kit she’d cleaned.  Then he moved the stillborn kit for her to see despite the other cats’ gentle disagreements.</p><p>     Berryheart regarded them with the most love he’d ever seen in her eyes.  “My precious kits,” she rasped, “I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry …”</p><p>     Goldpelt could hear Balefur and the LightClan cats behind him but pointedly ignored them.</p><p>     Berryheart weakly lifted her head to press her nose against each kit’s tiny head before falling back onto the moss.  She touched her paw to Goldpelt’s.</p><p>     For a heartbeat, she looked stronger.</p><p>     “Goldpelt … you have to … look after them.  For both … of us.  They should always … know … their kin …”</p><p>     Her voice faded to an empty sigh, and she sagged against the moss.  As her paw shifted away, the faint moonlight glinted off of the band Skystalker had given her so long ago, still wrapped around her foreleg.</p><p> </p><p>     Sunlight watched with a heavy heart as loners and ForestClan cats, both, huddled close to Goldpelt, offering their sympathies.  The loner named Crow even offered to nurse the kits with her own.</p><p>     Shame and guilt filled him.  In their grief, both brothers had offered the same judgement, one he now regarded as truth: this was his fault.  His and no other’s.  More guilt gnawed at him over his decision to let Goldpelt believe his brother was dead by his paws.  However true by technicality that might be, he held his silence because he felt that the full truth might break the young tom entirely.  But regardless of his reasoning, he knew deep in his heart that the true reason was fear.  He couldn’t bear to look Goldpelt in the eye and reveal the full extent of his mistake; how his decision to act on emotion rather than bow to wisdom turned a brave and loyal warrior to the dark and drove him to madness.</p><p>     Goldpelt was right.  He <em>was</em> a mouse-heart, of the worst sort. </p><p>     He watched as Balefur approached the group.</p><p>     “She was the best of us,” Balefur mewed, voice soft with grief.</p><p>     Goldpelt turned to him.  “She was.  And her mate was, too.”</p><p>     Balefur drew close and looked at the kits.  “Two she-cats and a tom.”</p><p>     “One didn’t survive.  I failed my brother.”</p><p>     “But two still live.”  Balefur sat beside him and touched his tail to the younger tom’s shoulder.  “And your brother would understand you did all you could.”</p><p>     Rosefur suddenly spun around.  “They don’t have names yet!”</p><p>     Goldpelt froze.  “You’re right,” he murmured. “But –” He looked to Balefur, whose eyes narrowed in thought.</p><p>     “I think,” Balefur mewed, “that you should name them, Goldpelt.  They are <em>your</em> kin, and I’m sure Skystalker and Berryheart would agree.”</p><p>     Goldpelt blinked.  Hesitancy filled his gaze as he looked at the kits; the light brown tom and cream she-cat that wiggled alongside Crow’s kits in search of milk, and the still white she-cat lying beside the equally still Berryheart.</p><p>     Sunlight and Lightstar watched from their position a few foxlengths away as Goldpelt stood, his chin and tail lifting and his eyes glinting with determination.</p><p>     “The tom-kit will be Sandkit,” he firmly announced, “after the Great-Sand-Place where their father was born.  The cream she-kit will be Treekit, after Green-Trees where their mother was born.”</p><p>     “What about the other she-kit?” Bluestripe asked. “It wouldn’t be right for her to enter StarClan without a name.”</p><p>     Goldpelt met the LightClan cats’ gazes with a fierceness that made Sunlight flinch.</p><p>     “Brightkit,” he meowed. “Her name is Brightkit, after her parents’ bright hearts.”</p><p> </p><p>     In a deep part of the cavern, a group of cats met to decide the fate of the Clans.</p><p>     “To ForestClan, send her body …”  Lightstar stretched his head high, as though tasting a current in the Force.  “Buried with her, her dead kit should be.  Hidden, safe, the other kits must be kept.  Foundation of the new LightClan, they will be.”</p><p>     “We should split them up,” Sunlight mewed. “Even if Shadowstar finds one, the other might survive.  I can take the tom, Lightstar, and you can take the she-kit.  We can hide them away, keep them safe – train them as Skystalker <em>should</em> have been trained –”</p><p>     “No!”  Goldpelt’s tail lashed and his eyes blazed.</p><p>     Lightstar closed his eyes.  “Agree with young Goldpelt I do.”</p><p>     Sunlight looked uncertain.  “But how are they to learn the self-discipline a LightClan cat needs?  How are they to master skills of the Force?”</p><p>     “Is that all you care about?” Goldpelt hissed. “Kits need their <em>kin</em>, mouse-brain!  They need <em>love</em>!    Something a cat like <em>you</em> wouldn’t know if you drowned in it!”</p><p>     Lightstar lifted his tail.  “LightClan training, the sole source of self-discipline is not.  When right is the time for skills to be taught, to us the living Force will bring them.  Until then, wait we will, and watch, and learn.”</p><p>     Goldpelt huffed, still glaring at the pair.</p><p>     “I can …”  Balefur stopped, slightly uncomfortable. “I’m sorry to interrupt; I know little about the Force, but I do know something of love.  Flurrystar and I – well, we’re about to have kits of our own.  Or, well, I suppose the kits will be born by the time I reach home.  If you have no objection, I would like to take them to MountainClan, and raise them with our kits.  They would be loved with us.”</p><p>     Goldpelt looked pleased at that.  “I’m sure Berryheart and Skystalker would approve.”</p><p>     Lightstar and Sunlight exchanged a look.  Lightstar tilted his head.  “No happier fate could any kit ask for.  Let Treekit be raised with yours.”</p><p>     Goldpelt faced him directly.  “Just Treekit?  What of Sandkit?  Do I get no say in any of this?  They <em>need</em> to stay with their <em>kin</em>!<em>”</em></p><p>     “And with kin Sandkit can still be.  Your other brother still lives in the Great-Sand-Place … Owen, right?” Sunlight suggested. “He and his mate, Whitesun, still live in that barn …”</p><p>     “As close to kin as Goldpelt is,” Lightstar mewed approvingly. “But the Great-Sand-Place – a wild and dangerous land it is.”</p><p>     “Skystalker and Goldpelt survived it,” Sunlight mewed. “Sandkit can, too.  And I can – well, I could take him there, and watch over him.  Protect him from the worst of that place’s dangers, until he can learn to protect himself.”</p><p>     “Like a father you wish to be, young Sunlight?”</p><p>     Goldpelt snorted, making no attempt to hide his displeasure, and Sunlight found himself unable to fault the younger tom for it.  He had reason for it after all.</p><p>     “More an … eccentric elder, I think.  It is a part I can play very well.  To keep watch over Skystalker’s son –” Sunlight sighed, finally allowing a bit of his deep regret to show. “I can’t imagine a better way to spend the rest of my life.”</p><p>“Settled it is, then.  To the Great-Sand-Place, you will take him.”</p><p>     Balefur turned to Goldpelt.  “I know that you’re the last mediator ForestClan has, but … if you’d prefer, you are more than welcome to join MountainClan with Treekit.”</p><p>     Goldpelt considered for a long moment.  “Frog That Leaps From Stone has mediated for ForestClan before.  And I – I had promised Skystalker that I would keep Berryheart safe, and I promised Berryheart that I would look after their kits.  I failed my promise to my brother – but I can keep my promise to Berryheart.  I will go with you to MountainClan.”</p><p>     Balefur purred and dipped his head, then turned to leave.</p><p>     Goldpelt moved to follow only to pause and turn a fierce gaze onto Sunlight.  “If <em>anything</em> happens to Sandkit on your watch,” he growled. “You’d best pray that death finds you before <em>I</em> do.”</p><p>     Sunlight lowered his head solemnly in acknowledgement.</p><p>     Satisfied, the yellow tom left the chamber with a whisk of his tail.</p><p>     Balefur started out, then paused in the entrance and looked back.  “Lightstar, do you think Berryheart’s kits will be able to defeat Shadowstar?”</p><p>     “Strong the Force runs, in Skystalker’s line.  Only hope, we can.  Until the time is right, disappear we will.”</p><p>     Balefur dipped his head.  “And I must do the same – metaphorically, at least.  You may hear … disturbing things … about what I do in the Great Gathering.  I must appear to support ShadowClan, and my friends and Clanmates with me.  It was … Berryheart’s wish, and she was a better mediator than I’ll ever be.  Please trust that what we do is only a cover for our true task.  We will never betray the legacy of LightClan.  I will never surrender the Tribe of Gathering to DarkClan.”</p><p>     “Trust in this, we always will.  Go now with our blessing, and that of the Force.”</p><p>     Balefur lowered his head, and vanished into the tunnel.</p><p>     When Sunlight moved to follow, Lightstar’s tail blocked his way.  “A moment, Sunlight.  In your solitude in the Great-Sand-Place, training I have for you.  I and my new mentor.”</p><p>     Sunlight blinked.  “Your new mentor?”</p><p>     “Yes.”  Lightstar purred.  “And your <em>old</em> one …”</p><p> </p><p>     Goldpelt padded toward Bluestripe and Rosefur.  They looked up at his approach and a lump formed in his throat.  Aside from Skystalker and Berryheart, these two cats had been two of his closest friends. </p><p>     He took a deep breath.  “I’m leaving.”</p><p>     Bluestripe and Rosefur exchanged a wide-eyed look.</p><p>     “Sandkit is being sent to Owen and Whitesun” – and oh did it hurt him to utter that – “and Balefur has offered to take Treekit to MountainClan with him.  I’m going with Treekit.”</p><p>     “You’re … leaving ForestClan to be a MountainClan cat?” Rosefur asked, her voice trembled.</p><p>     Goldpelt dipped his head.  “I – I promised Berryheart that her kits would be raised with their kin, and bringing them to ForestClan would only draw Shadowstar’s attention, so … I have to go.”</p><p>     “But –” Bluestripe started to protest.</p><p>     Rosefur interrupted him.  “Will you be all right?”</p><p>     “I think so,” Goldpelt mewed.  He sat down with a sigh. “Both of you need to keep your heads down.  Leave ForestClan yourselves if you have to.  We don’t know how much Shadowstar suspects.”</p><p>     Bluestripe hesitated.  “I don’t know … we have to take Berryheart and Brightkit back to Green-Trees for burial –”</p><p>     “Perhaps I can help that.”</p><p>     The trio turned to see Balefur approach them.  “If you’d like, both of you can come to MountainClan with Goldpelt.  I have a couple of warriors with me who can take Berryheart home.”</p><p>     A pained look crossed Bluestripe’s face.  “What about Robinleap?  Or my parents, Redstripe and Waspcloud?  Or Rosefur’s father, Goldenfoot?  Or even Frog?  Won’t they wonder where we are?”</p><p>     “If you can trust them to keep a secret,” Balefur offered, “my warriors can pass along a message.  I think that, for your own safety, it would be better if most cats think that all of you died in the fire-water.”</p><p>     Bluestripe was still uncertain, but Rosefur looked thoughtful.  “I suppose it would be a good excuse as to why only Berryheart was recovered.”</p><p>     She exchanged a long look with her mate, who finally sighed.  “All right,” he mewed. “Let’s do it.”</p><p> </p><p>     Deep in the new ShadowClan medicine cat den in the Gathering Place, Slyfoot hurried out of the primary chamber where he and his apprentice had been hard at work for the past five sunrises.</p><p>     He beckoned to a twisted shadow that stood at the edge of a pool of sunlight.  “Shadowstar, he is fully stable.  He lives.”</p><p>     “Good.  Good.”</p><p>     The shadow flowed into the chamber as though a cloud passed in front of the sun.</p><p>     Mudpaw, the apprentice, scurried away as it approached the soft nest at the end of the chamber.</p><p>     In the nest of soft moss and Twoleg-pelts was the first injured cat to be treated here.</p><p>     To some eyes, the cat might have been walking crow-food, half-burnt and scarred badly.  To some ears, the breath might be as ragged as an old fox, wheezing from the damage caused by too much smoke, but to the shadow –</p><p>     He was <em>glorious</em>.</p><p>     A magnificent warrior; the greatest treasure of DarkClan.</p><p>     Terrifying.</p><p>     Mesmerizing.</p><p>     Perfect.</p><p>     The cat began to stir, and the shadow leaned close.</p><p>     “Darklight?  Darklight, can you hear me?”</p><p> </p><p>     The first dawn brought pain.</p><p>     The light burned.  And he knew it always would.  That part of him would always lie upon black sand beside a lake of fire as the ground and air burned him from the inside out.</p><p>     He could hear himself breathe.  It came hard, and harsh, and it scraped his throat raw.  His ears ached with every sound.</p><p>     “Darklight?  Darklight, can you hear me?”</p><p>     He struggled to focus, to remember.  He opened his eyes … and saw nothing.</p><p>     “I can hear you,” he rasped. “Why can’t I see?”</p><p>     “I’m afraid your attacker took what was left of it.  They left you for dead.”</p><p>     Then he remembered.  He remembered <em>everything</em>.</p><p>     Berryheart coming to him.</p><p>     Goldpelt, Bluestripe, and Rosefur trying to reach them.</p><p>     Sunlight.</p><p>     The ground caving.</p><p>     Sunlight stopping him from reaching her.</p><p>     Seeing her crumpled body.</p><p>     Sunlight’s claws raking down his face.</p><p>     Emptiness.</p><p>     Rage.</p><p>     Pain.</p><p>     “Sunlight,” he hissed. “<em>Sunlight</em> killed them then left me for dead.”</p><p>     “Yes,” Darkshadow replied.</p><p>     Darklight struggled to sit up.  “Where is he?”</p><p>     “Our warriors are seeking him as we speak.  He will be brought to justice –”</p><p>     “No.”  Darklight managed to stand on shaky legs.  “This vengeance is <em>mine</em>.  That <em>murderer</em> will die by <em>my</em> claws.”</p><p> </p><p>     The long night had begun.</p><p>     A huge solemn crowd, ForestClan, the Tribe of Deep Waters, and two warriors from MountainClan, gathered in the meadow in the middle of ForestClan territory to mourn a beloved mediator and her stillborn kit, as well as three other Clanmates who were not present to be buried …</p><p>     In a swampy jungle, a former leader of LightClan inspected the unfamiliar territory of his exile …</p><p>     From the height of a ruined Twoleg-den, a DarkClan cat stood with his son, Kinkheart, and surveyed the growing skeleton of a holding den for a large creature, while far below in the medicine cat’s den, another DarkClan cat began to teach his new apprentice, Smokepaw, of the power of the Force …</p><p>     But even in the deepest night, there were some who dreamed of dawn.</p><p>     In MountainClan, the leader’s mate settled a small she-kit among their own three kits as the she-kit’s uncle and her uncle’s best friends looked on.</p><p>     Curled up under a pile of Twoleg-things in the belly of a Thundersnake, a brown tom and his dark ginger and white mate fled from his power-mad father with their daughter tucked between them.</p><p>     And in the Great-Sand-Place, a former sage of LightClan with a mud-covered Force-Crystal attached to each of his forelegs brought a small tom-kit to a barn not far from a Thundersnake den –</p><p> </p><p>     Sunlight’s heart broke as he watched two cats, Owen and Whitesun, he assumed, bury two tiny bodies.  As he drew closer to the mourning pair, the kit in his mouth whimpered with hunger.  Two heads whirled about.</p><p>     “Oh!”  Whitesun raced over with her mate at her tail.</p><p>     Sunlight set the kit down, careful to keep his shadow over the kit.  “I’m a … <em>was</em> a friend of Skystalker.”</p><p>     “Is he –?”</p><p>     “Dead.  Killed in battle by a cat called Darklight.”  The half-lie came a little easier.  “His mate didn’t survive the kitting.”</p><p>     “This is his son?”  Owen’s voice was soft.</p><p>     The kit whimpered again and Whitesun picked him up to take him inside.</p><p>     “I was hoping you might take him in,” Sunlight admitted.</p><p>     Owen blinked.  “Of course we will.  Skystalker was my brother, for all I only met him once.  What’s his son’s name?”</p><p>     Sunlight took a deep breath.  “Sandkit.  His name is Sandkit.”</p><p>     Owen looked thoughtful.  “Then we’ll just call him Sand.  In case this Darklight comes looking for him.”</p><p>     Sunlight let out a relieved sigh.  “Thank you.”</p><p>     As he turned to leave, he heard Owen meow, “Oh, I forgot to ask your name …”</p><p>     The former sage paused for a long moment.  “Mouse,” he mewed finally. “Just Mouse.”</p><p>     Then he moved away into dunes, toward the setting sun.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And now that the first trilogy is done, I'm going to take a break to focus on some personal affairs I've been neglecting, including my new business venture and my original novels.  So, I'll see you all again in a month.</p><p>Oh, and to those of you wondering, I debated which story to do next and ultimately decided to just get all nine episodes out of the way first and adapt Rogue One and Solo after.</p><p>Also, if there's a Star Warriors character you want to have his/her own "super edition" story afterward, like Slenderleg or Rosefur, for example, you can let me know in the comments section so I can add them to the list I've already started, as well as the time period in their lives you want me to cover.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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